USE DIPLOMACY, NOT PROXIES: US NSA’S STRONG MESSAGE TO PAK

NEW YORK: Pakistan should use diplomacy and not “proxies” that engage in violence to pursue its interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere, US National Security Adviser Lt Gen HR McMaster has said, as he criticised the Pakistani leadership for selectively targeting terror groups.

McMaster, in an interview to Afghan television channel ToloNews, appeared to take a “tougher line” on Pakistan, which has been accused of using the Taliban as a proxy force and giving its leaders sanctuary.

“As all of us have hoped for many, many years — we have hoped that Pakistani leaders will understand that it is in their interest to go after these groups less selectively than they have in the past,” McMaster said during his latest visit to the wartorn country, according to a report in The New York Times.

“The best way to pursue their interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through the use of diplomacy, and not through the use of proxies that engage in violence,” it quoted him as saying.

The report added that Afghan officials aware of the discussions with McMaster said there was a common understanding of the threat of terrorist groups emerging from Pakistan.

“And there are other indications that the United States may be weighing a tougher stance on Pakistan, among them General McMaster’s reported pick of a point person on the country who has strongly advocated that the United States stop treating Pakistan as an ally and condition any future military aid on fighting terrorist groups,” the report added.