Tillerson builds bridges after row over Trump’s new strategy
ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reminded Pakistan on Tuesday of its commitment to fight extremists and eradicate terrorism.
Pakistan is “so important regionally to our joint goals of providing peace and security to the region and providing opportunities for a greater economic relationship,” Tillerson told Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi at a meeting with Pakistan’s political, military and intelligence chiefs. Tillerson restated US President Donald Trump’s message that “Pakistan must increase its efforts to eradicate militants and terrorists operating within the country,” the US Embassy in Islamabad said.
He “outlined the United States’s new South Asia Strategy and the vital role that Pakistan can play in working with the US and others to facilitate a peace process in Afghanistan that can bring stability and security to the region.
“Pakistan and the US share common interests in establishing a stable, peaceful Afghanistan, defeating Daesh in South Asia, and eliminating terrorist groups that threaten both Pakistan and the US.”
Abbasi said: “We have produced results and we are looking forward to moving ahead with the US and building a tremendous relationship.
“The US can rest assured that we are strategic partners in the war against terror and that today Pakistan is fighting the largest war in the world against terror.”
Ties between the two countries hit rock bottom in August when Trump unveiled his new Afghan and South Asia strategy. His criticism and assertions that Pakistan harbored “agents of chaos” were met with anger by Pakistani politicians, who rejected the allegations as baseless. In an interview with Arab News, Abbasi reminded the US of the countless lives lost and billions Pakistan has spent to fight a proxy war that became Pakistan’s own war.
In his meetings on Tuesday, Tillerson expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s sacrifices in the fight against terror, and his gratitude to Abbasi’s administration and the Pakistan Army for their cooperation in securing the release last week of the BoyleColeman family, held by militants.