Images from commercial satellite company DigitalGlobal showed a three-mile-long traffic jam of oil tankers and supply trucks trying to cross the Torkham border pass into Afghanistan. The jam left the trucks vulnerable, and several NATO oil tankers were attacked by militants claiming to be part of Mujahid-e-Islami Buraq, The News International reported.
The pass was closed after a NATO helicopter killed two Pakistani soldiers in September, who allegedly fired their guns to alert the helicopter of their positions. Pakistan reopened the supply line on Oct. 9, following an Oct. 6 apology from U.S. officials .
Two days later, on Oct. 11, The Nation reported that new trade routes will be established along the Pakistani border, following the construction of new checkpoints. An unnamed source told the publication that the intention of the routes is to ensure NATO supplies can get through if other passes are closed in the future.
Pakistan Chief Minister Ameer Haidar Khan Hoti stated the same day that if NATO does not respect Pakistan’s sovereignty in the future, it may face more trouble, Pakistani DAWN Media Group reported.
The present relationship between the United States and Pakistan is not a profound new development, however, but rather the surfacing of ongoing tensions.
For the United States, Pakistan plays a vital role in the war in Afghanistan. “In fact, there is no security relationship in the world today more important than the relationship between the United States military and the military of Pakistan,” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton said in an April 29 hearing. 
Skelton said that relations between the two countries must remain solid “if we are to truly serve the interests of both nations.”
Pakistan cannot afford to cut ties with the United States, as they receive $1.5 billion annually through the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act.
The country’s leadership maintains a common line, however, that they prefer the United States and NATO keep their operations off Pakistani soil—a preference that is often undermined by insurgent forces fighting along the borders and operating within the country.
“Al-Qaeda remains in Pakistan where they continue to plot attacks against us and where they and their extremist allies pose a threat to the Pakistani state,” states a Dec. 1, 2009, White House fact sheet, titled "The Way Forward in Afghanistan." “Our goal in Pakistan will be to ensure that al-Qaeda is defeated and Pakistan remains stable.”
“Our partnership with Pakistan is inextricably linked to our efforts in Afghanistan. To secure our country, we need a strategy that works on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” the document states.
