Pakistan says won't be prodded by foreign pressure

By Zeeshan Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan and the United States share the common objective of defeating militancy but Pakistan will not be prodded into military operations by outsiders, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Monday.

"We will not do anything, more or less, at the prodding of others. We will see what are Pakistan's requirements and priorities," Qureshi told reporters.

He was responding to a question about a New York Times report on Monday that said the United States had stepped up pressure on Pakistan to expand its fight against Taliban and al Qaeda militants.

The Pakistani army went on the offensive against the Pakistani Taliban in their South Waziristan bastion near the Afghan border last month, and the militants have retaliated with a surge of bomb attacks.

The United States, weighing options for how to turn around deteriorating security in Afghanistan, has welcomed the offensive but is also keen to see Pakistan tackle Afghan Taliban factions in lawless enclaves along the border.

U.S. President Barack Obama is expected in the coming weeks to announce an overhauled strategy for Afghanistan that may include sending up to 40,000 more troops.

The United States has warned Pakistan the success of the strategy depends on Pakistan broadening its fight beyond the militants attacking it to groups using Pakistani havens for attacking against U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the Times said.

It said Obama sent a letter to President Asif Ali Zardari saying he expected the Pakistani leader to rally political and national security institutions in a united campaign against extremists.