U.S. reminds Pakistan it’s still on notice
The United States has reminded Pakistan that it is still on notice to dismantle all terrorist sanctuaries and safe havens from its soil.
The reminder was conveyed by U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G. Wells at a congressional hearing on Wednesday, indicating growing strains in their relationship.
“Pakistan is on notice that we expect its unequivocal cooperation ending sanctuaries that the Taliban have enjoyed since the remnants of their toppled regime fled into Pakistan in 2001,” said the senior U.S. official.
In a New Year Day tweet, President Donald Trump had accused Pakistan of “taking billions and billions of dollars” from the US while “housing the same terrorists” that it was supposed to fight. Trump administration suspended more than two billion dollars of security aid to Pakistan.
Pakistan, however, has rejected these allegations as unfounded and has urged Washington not to blame Islamabad for its failures in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan today is America’s longest war and the biggest disaster. Despite 17 years of military intervention, security situation continues to deteriorate and peace remains a mirage. Pakistan’s former Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir thinks US is just looking for a scapegoat. “Even after spending trillion dollars and deploying thousands of soldiers, US is only able to control 40 percent of Afghanistan,” he told newspersons in Islamabad recently. “U.S. government wants a scapegoat.”