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Pakistan views the campaign of drone strikes that the United States continues to carry out against terrorist targets inside Pakistan as counterproductive and illegal 鈥� and as a setback for domestic efforts against extremism, the country鈥檚 ambassador to the US said Tuesday.

Pakistani Ambassador Sherry Rehman rejected prevailing perceptions that her government publicly condemns the drone strikes while privately cooperating with the US on them. Instead, she says, the Pakistani government unequivocally opposes the strikes as a violation of sovereignty and as a recruitment tool for extremists.

鈥淭here is no policy of quiet complacency, no wink and nod,鈥� Ambassador Rehman said at a Monitor breakfast with reporters in Washington.

The Pakistani diplomat insisted her country 鈥� keenly interested in the stability of the South Asian region 鈥� is expending considerable resources to enhance the security of its border with Afghanistan. But in terms of border interdiction and stability, she said, the US cannot expect Pakistan to accomplish what the US and its NATO partners could not ensure over a decade of operations in Afghanistan.

Rehman also rejected the complaints of some US and Afghan officials that Pakistan is not fully cooperating in efforts to promote an Afghan peace process through reconciliation 鈥� for example, by not releasing the high-level Afghan Taliban prisoners it holds as a goodwill gesture for planned peace negotiations.

Rehman hinted that such releases 鈥� including that of the Taliban鈥檚 former second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, whom the government in Kabul wants released to facilitate talks 鈥� may be coming. But, she also insisted, the peace process can succeed only if it is directed by Afghans.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e saying is we鈥檙e putting our shoulder to the wheel,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut [the peace process] has to be led by Afghanistan.鈥� She added, 鈥淚t must be defined by them, led by them, goal-posted by them.鈥�

Pakistan鈥檚 focus is security and stability throughout South Asia, said Rehman, who referred to a 鈥渉istoric shift that Pakistan is very consciously making.鈥�

Rehman鈥檚 comments came as Afghan and Pakistani leaders met with British officials in London to discuss Afghan reconciliation efforts as NATO countries pursue a military drawdown that is set to have them out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014. The Afghan government鈥檚 reconciliation plan puts Pakistan in the role of go-between in eventual face-to-face, Taliban-Afghan government peace talks.

But others, including some US officials, have questioned Pakistan鈥檚 ability to play that role, given what they say is its long history of harboring Taliban fighters as a means of maintaining a degree of influence in Afghan affairs.

Rehman countered such an argument, saying that Pakistan has lost more than 46,000 civilians and security forces in its fight with extremists. She also said that the country鈥檚 tribal areas where extremists have flourished are increasingly under government control.

The slice of tribal areas under government control has increased from 37 percent in 2009 to 86 percent last year, she said.

In her remarks, Rehman emphasized that this spring will be the first time in Pakistan鈥檚 history that an elected government will have completed a full ruling period before new elections. Calling that achievement 鈥渉istoric,鈥� she said it underscores Pakistan鈥檚 progress as a stable and advancing democracy.

Perhaps conscious that much of the world now associates her country with the case of Malala Yousafzai 鈥� the 15-year-old advocate of girls鈥� education shot in the head last October by the Taliban 鈥� Rehman said the Pakistani government has taken unprecedented steps to reduce female poverty and encourage women鈥檚 participation in the country鈥檚 political and economic life.

But women鈥檚 economic and social betterment is 鈥渘ot going to happen overnight,鈥� she said. Still, she noted, Pakistan has approved a 鈥渟afety net鈥� specifically designed to address female poverty and economic independence, while legislation addressing sexual harassment and domestic violence has been passed.