The US has said there is tangible evidence
of Pakistan's commitment to clamping down on extremists operating within its borders, citing the arrest of top Taliban commander Mullah Baradar and the cooperation it extended after the botched Times Square bombing plot.
"We have seen tangible evidence of Pakistan's commitment to clamping down on extremist networks operating within its borders.
As you know, several top Afghan Taliban leaders - including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar - have been apprehended, and we are grateful to the
Pakistani authorities for this," said Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, in the State Department.
"Immediately after the Times Square incident, we also began working closely with the Government of Pakistan on the investigation and they've been cooperative in assisting our efforts and we will continue to work with Islamabad on this important prosecution," Benjamin said in his speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Identifying Pakistan as a front-line partner in fighting extremists, Benjamin said the US provides a spectrum of assistance to Pakistani
counterterrorism campaigns which range from police training to anti-money laundering efforts.
Undoubtedly the hundreds of millions of dollars directed to Pakistani counterterrorism efforts have saved American lives and we shouldn't forget that Pakistan has put out-of-business more al-Qa'ida operatives than any other country, he said.
"Over the past year, the US government has seen very encouraging signs that Pakistan not only recognises the severity of the threat from violent extremists, but is actively working to counter and constrain it.
Pakistani military operations in Swat and Waziristan have eliminated militant strongholds and damaged the operational abilities of extremist groups.
Moreover, we are seeing increasing cross-border cooperation with Afghanistan and ISAF forces, which is instrumental in the reduction of key militant safe havens.
And in the wake of the operation in Swat, we have seen public opinion turn more decisively against the militants," Benjamin said.