Haqqani says Pakistan seeks close ties with China, US simaltaneously

NEW YORK - Pakistan pursues close relations with China and the United States simaltaneously, Ambassador Husain Haqqani was quoted as saying by Monday's New York Times, which described the Pakistani envoy in Washington as "the intellectual driving force behind the government's foreign policy."

Haqqani, who spoke on the eve of President Asif Ali Zardari's state visit to China, also denied accusations from some quarters in Pakistan that government had downgraded relations with China while trying to placate the United States.