US wants Pakistan to ‘turn over’ terrorists
WASHINGTON:The Trump administration has publicly said that it expects Pakistan to “do the right thing” and “turn over” terrorists to the US.
“We would hope that Pakistan would come to the table and that they would turn over those terrorists that we have asked be turned over,” Steve Goldstein, undersecretary of state for public affairs, said.
Goldstein’s statement comes a week after the US suspended nearly $2 billion in security aid to Pakistan for its continued failure to take “decisive action” against terror groups operating on its soil. This was perhaps the first mention of one of the “specific actions” US officials said they wanted Pakistan to undertake for the resumption of aid flow.
“Yes, the demand for handing over terrorists seems new,” said a long-time observer of US-Pakistan relations, who would speak only on condition of anonymity.
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at Wilson Center, said, “So far as I understand, the US has previously demanded that Pakistan take action against specific terrorists—how many and what type is unclear, but I do know that there have been specific demands. For the US, asking that specific terrorists be turned over makes sense because it’s an easily measurable demand: either Pakistan turns them over or it doesn’t.”
There was no response from the state department to an emailed question if Goldstein’s remarks marked a departure from the norm.