A top US official has called for Pakistan to take action against all extremist groups without distinction as Islamabad has been playing a double game with its “good terrorist, bad terrorist policy.”
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet on October 7-8 with officials in Islamabad at a time when US Senators have moved a bill for an investigation into Pakistan’s support for the Taliban which could lead to US sanctions against the country.
"We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and we expect sustained action against all terrorist groups without distinction," Sherman told reporters.
"Both of our countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism and we look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats," she said in Switzerland, her first destination on a diplomatic trip that will also take her to India and Uzbekistan.
Ministers in the Imran Khan government have been openly bragging about Islamabad’s close links with the Taliban leaders who they point out have been educated and brought up in Pakistan.
The US has serious concerns over Pakistan offering safe havens to terrorists along the border areas of Afghanistan, the Pentagon has said.
"We've been very honest about our concerns with Pakistan for a long time, about the safe havens that exist on their side of the border along that spine. And those concerns are still valid today," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Thursday at a news conference.
"We continue to have candid conversations with Pakistani leaders about our concerns," he said in response to a question.
"I think it's important to continue to remind them that the Pakistani people, likewise, have been rendered victim by terrorist threats that emanate from those groups and along that same border," he said.
Mr Kirby also said that the United States is within its rights to continue drone strikes inside Afghanistan.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has been a strong critic of US military campaigns, said in an interview to a Turkish news channel on Friday that his government had opened peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban and the Afghan leadership was facilitating the issue.
"Some of the Pakistani Taliban groups actually want to talk to our government for some peace, for some reconciliation," he told Turkey's TRT World television.
He said the discussions were taking place in Afghanistan with sections of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has stepped up attacks against the Pakistan army in recent days.
"I repeat, I do not believe in military solutions," Khan said.
Khan has encouraged the world to engage with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and provide economic support, although he has stopped short of backing recognition keeping his country’s own interests in mind as he has been approaching the IMF and World Bank for loans.
Pakistan, a Cold War ally of the United States, was one of only three nations to recognize the hardline Islamist Taliban regime during 1996-2001 but then suddenly switched to supporting the US-led war to oust them after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Also read: US may use Russia’s bases in Central Asia to hit terror targets in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan
