Supporting dictators in Pak was a mistake, would not be repeated again: Clinton - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is on a three-day visit to Pakistan, has said that Washington had committed a mistake by supporting successive military regimes in the country in the past, and also assured that such a step would not be repeated in future again. Clinton, who held an interactive meeting with several Parliamentarians at the Parliament House here, told them that the US had committed a mistake in the past by supporting successive military rulers, but added that it would not be repeated again. "The US secretary of state in her meeting with parliamentarians acknowledged that the United States had made a mistake in the past to lend its support to successive dictators and assured that in future no relation would be established with individuals but with the state and people of Pakistan," The News quoted Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Fehmida Mirza, as saying. During the three-hour long meeting, Pakistani Parliamentarians raised several issues including that of drone attacks in the tribal areas and the presence of private US security firm, Blackwater, inside the country's territory. Insiders said, while replying to apprehensions regarding the presence of private security guards, Clinton stressed that those hired by the US for safe guarding its installations would certainly abide by the law of the land. Dr.Mirza said Clinton also pointed out that the Obama administration, after evaluating past policies, has now decided to interact with the people of Pakistan and parliamentarians for which a mechanism was being devised.