'But we have to move away from these old stereotypes and work with one another in the 21st century to defeat these common enemies that we do face'

The State Department official said the poll was 'obviously very concerning' and indicated 'We clearly have a lot of work to do. ...We need to obviously do a better job of telling our story to the Pakistani people and to others around the world.'

Asked if ongoing drone attacks in going after the Taliban with or without Pakistan's tacit consent hampered US efforts to address Pakistanis' concerns, Wood declined to comment as per 'standard practice' on that particular issue.

'But let me just say we're well aware of the challenges that the people of Pakistan face,' he said. 'And as we've said, we're Pakistan's partner. We're with Pakistan in this battle against violent extremism, and we will be with them every step of the way.'

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)