By Susan Cornwell
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Pakistan's foreign minister was optimistic on Wednesday that he had won the assurances needed from Washington to help calm debate at home over whether the conditions in a U.S. aid bill violated Pakistani sovereignty.
"We have taken a step forward, and I am going back to Pakistan to tell my parliament and to conclude the debate on the note that our relationship will go forward, we will deepen it and we will strengthen it," Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.
He spoke at a joint appearance with Senator John Kerry and Representative Howard Berman, authors of the bill that provides $7.5 billion in nonmilitary aid to Pakistan over five years. Pakistan's military and opposition were angered by conditions tying some funds to fighting militants and keeping the army out of politics.
Even though Qureshi was upbeat, the pressure in his country is unlikely to disappear because of a tide of anti-Americanism in Pakistan, where suspicions are deep over U.S. intentions toward the nuclear-armed state.
The foreign minister was in Washington just last week when he had praised the bill -- only to be sent back a few days later to voice strong concerns, particularly from Pakistan's powerful military, over the legislation.
To set the record straight, Kerry said lawmakers wrote a "joint explanatory statement" clarifying their intentions and were placing it in the Congressional Record, the official log of proceedings of the House of Representatives and Senate.
The statement made clear that the legislation did not seek to impinge on Pakistan's sovereignty or "micromanage any aspect of Pakistan's military or civilian operations," Kerry said.
Kerry and Berman's offices released the statement a few hours later. Among other things, it honored the Pakistan security forces' sacrifices in fighting extremists. The United States needs Pakistani help in hunting al Qaeda leaders and stopping Islamist militants from crossing the border into Afghanistan to fight U.S.-led forces there.
Explaining a line that drew Pakistani ire -- a requirement that Pakistan's security forces are not "subverting" political processes -- the statement said this meant to express support for democracy in Pakistan.
But it also noted the measure allows the U.S. Secretary of State to waive this and some other controversial provisions if she thinks it is in the interests of U.S. national security.
Qureshi called the joint statement an "historic document" and said he was grateful Congress and the Obama Administration took the time to "hear me out and allay the fears of Pakistan".
The foreign minister said he was glad to see two democracies "caring about each other" -- a reminder to his hosts of the fragility of the civilian government in Pakistan, where the military has ruled for more than half the nation's 62-year history.
U.S. lawmakers, while sympathetic to delicate Pakistani politics, made clear conditions attached to the aid, which still has to be appropriated by Congress, could not be eased.
The bill states that since 2001, the United States has contributed over $15 billion in aid to Pakistan, of which more than $10 billion has been security-related assistance.
President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill into law by Friday, a White House official said.
(Editing by Sue Pleming and Philip Barbara)
