ISLAMABAD: The US asked Pakistan to act against terror groups targeting its neighbours and not just the ones that pose a threat to it, at the SAARC ministerial meet held in Islamabad. Endorsing India's stand, US State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said, "We have been very clear with the highest levels of the Government of Pakistan that they must target all militant groups and that includes those that target Pakistan's neighbours. They must also close all safe havens."
"We obviously believe that Pakistan needs to do all it can to confront all terrorists operating on its soil. We have seen it make progress; we want to see more progress on its part," Toner said when asked about Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh's visit to the country. He said Pak was going after terror groups "selectively" and "we need to see them go after all groups, even those that might not threaten Pakistan itself but threaten its neighbours." Toner said it was important to have a forum where countries can "talk about in a candid way" on the areas of disagreement and concerns and advocated closer cooperation between India and Pakistan to deal with terror threat in both the countries.
"We encourage that kind of regional dialogue regarding counter-terrorism efforts. We advocate for closer cooperation, certainly, between India and Pakistan to deal with terrorist threats in both countries." He called out both countries to fight together against terrorism, saying, "Terrorism is obviously a reality in both countries, and in order to effectively confront it, they need to work together. That is something we have long encouraged. So it is important that these forum, rather, to talk about in a candid way some of the areas of disagreement and some of the areas of concern between the two of them."
Rajnath Singh attended the SAARC Home Ministers' meeting amongst massive protests in Islamabad. Addressing the meet, he had said that mere condemnation of terrorism and terrorists is not enough and that there are "no good terrorists or bad terrorists".
