Pak must do more on terror in ‘region’: US
Secretary of state Pompeo meets Imran Khan after aid cut
ISLAMABAD: The United States on Wednesday urged Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership to take “sustained and decisive” action against terrorists and militants threatening “regional peace” as secretary of state Mike Pompeo held talks in Islamabad aimed at resetting bilateral ties.
Pompeo travelled to Pakistan with the US military chief, Gen Joseph Dunford, ahead of a visit to New Delhi for the inaugural 2+2 dialogue with India. This was the first high-level US visit since Prime Minister Imran Khan’s new government assumed power last month, and came days after Washington cancelled $300 million in security-related payments to Islamabad.
Though Pompeo adopted a conciliatory tone by saying his meetings with Khan and foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had laid the ground for outcomes that can build “confidence and trust”, he also made it clear there was “a long way to go” before the US could think of resuming security-related aid to Pakistan.
Pompeo didn’t mention India but his remarks placed the onus for peace in the region on Pakistan. Pompeo landed in India on Wednesday evening and was received at the airport by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Pompeo and US defense secretary Jim Mattis will have discussions with their Indian counterparts Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday.
“In all of his meetings (in Islamabad), secretary Pompeo emphasised the important role Pakistan could play in bringing about a negotiated peace in Afghanistan, and conveyed the need for Pakistan to take sustained and decisive measures against terrorists and militants threatening regional peace and stability,” state department spokesperson Heather Nauert said.
Qureshi sought to give a positive spin to developments, tweeting that the talks marked the “beginning of a new dawn after a spell of darkness”.