‘Trump wants Pak to stop supporting Haqqani, Taliban’
US President Donald Trump wants Islamabad to change its paradoxical policy of supporting militants who have safe haven and are causing great losses to Pakistan.
“The president has also made clear that we need to see a change in behaviour of those in the region, which includes those who are providing safe haven and support bases for the Taliban, Haqqani Network and others,” US National Security Adviser Gen HR McMaster said.
In remarks reported by US media on Saturday, he also defended Trump’s strategy on winning the war in Afghanistan by giving unrestricted powers to the US military. Taliban and Haqqani Network move freely in parts of Pakistan close to the border of Afghanistan. Kabul has repeatedly blamed Islamabad for the violence in the country.
“It is Pakistan in particular that we want to really see a change in and a reduction of their support for these groups. This is of course, you know, a very paradoxical situation where Pakistan is taking great losses. They have fought very hard against these groups, but they’ve done so really only selectively,” said McMaster.
The US media reported earlier this week that in a July 19 meeting at the White House, Trump berated his generals for not winning the war in Afghanistan and allowing the violence to continue for more than 16 years.
Trump also “repeatedly suggested” to his senior military advisers that they should replace Gen John Nicholson, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, with a new general who could win the war.
But McMaster disagrees with Trump’s suggestion.