Pakistan Warns U.S. 'You Will Lose an Ally' if Accusations Continue

Pakistan's foreign minister warned Thursday the United States risks losing an ally if it continues to publicly criticise Islamabad's performance in the fight against extremism.

You will lose an ally, Hina Rabbani Khar told Pakistan's Geo TV in New York. You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan, you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people. If you are choosing to do so and if they are choosing to do so it will be at their [the Americans] own cost.

Khar was responding to a U.S. Senate testimony by the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who said Pakistan's top spy agency was closely tied to the Haqqani network, the most violent and effective faction in the Afghan Taliban insurgency.