Washington, Nov 16: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has described the state of emergency in Pakistan as "unfortunate", and said that the US was going to "stand by the Pakistani people in these difficult times. "

"We have been supportive of economic reform in Pakistan. We’ve been supportive of educational (reforms). And of course, we have helped to provide funding to train Pakistani forces so that they can fight extremism, " the Daily Times quoted Rice, as saying.

But this is a really hard time for Pakistan and we are a friend of Pakistan and we’re going to stand by the Pakistani people in these difficult times, she added.

Rice did not say that the US was going to stand by Musharraf, as it has often said in the past.

In an interview with The Tennessean, Rice in answer to a question about Pakistan said: "Well, it’s a really difficult time for Pakistan and I don’t doubt that extremism is a real danger there. "

"But the way to counter extremism is through democratic processes and adherence to them. And that’s why we felt that the decision by Musharraf was an unfortunate one, to impose a state of emergency, " she added.

Rice wanted emergency to be lifted as quickly as possible, and added that there is a need to have free and fair elections early next year.

She said that the US is focused on a democratic path for Pakistan. (ANI)