Washington: Amidst new peace overtures from the Imran Khan government after the re-election of PM Narendra Modi, the White House has made it clear to Pakistan that the onus for sustained peace in South Asia was on it by putting the terror groups out of business.
Khan has written a second letter to PM Modi after his re-election, saying that Pakistan wants talks with India to resolve all differences, including on the Kashmir issue. The Pak premier said talks between the two nations were the only solution to help people of both countries overcome poverty and that it was important to work together for regional development.
However, India has rejected Pakistan’s offer of talks, maintaining that terror and talks cannot go together and said that no bilateral meeting has been planned between the two PMs on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) in Bishkek on June 13-14. “What the United States is really looking for in Pakistan are arrests and prosecutions and not allowing these groups to operate and move around freely, acquire weapons, cross into India, carry out attacks,” a senior White House official said.
The US is looking for sustained and irreversible steps that shut down their operations, asserted the official. “Until these groups are put out of business, it’s going to be very difficult for India and Pakistan to achieve sustained peace. So the onus is on Pakistan to ensure that they crack down on these groups,” said the White House official responding to a question on the US assessment of the Indo-Pak tension.
A senior State Department official said that in the wake of the Pulwama attack, the US has seen Pakistan taking some initial actions against designated terrorist organisations and more steps to enhance counter terrorism financing measures.
