A low ebb in the US relationship with Pakistan after the unilateral American raid that killed al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad was worth paying the price for getting rid of the world's most wanted terrorist, a top aide of US President Barack Obama has said. "The raid in May 2011 against the Abbottabad compound of bin Laden was one that the Pakistani government reacted sharply to as a matter of sovereignty. I think the decision that we made to take this unilaterally was the right decision," Tom Donilon, National Security Advisor to Obama, said.

"But nonetheless, when we were making the decision, we actually sat and understood that there would be a price to be paid, and we thought the price was obviously well worth it in terms of having a period of time where we were going to have a difficult time with Pakistan," Donilon said.

The top Obama advisor was responding to a question after his remarks at the Foreign Policy Strategic Forum on "US National Security Priorities in a Transforming World."