WASHINGTON – Undermining the Islamabad’s actions against militancy, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday said that Pakistan will be held to account if it does not make “sincere” efforts to curb terrorist fighting in Afghanistan.
Pompeo stated this while giving a comment on long-delayed legislative elections in Afghanistan. He welcomed the polls, saying Washington was encouraged by the voter turnout.
Responding to a question about Islamabad’s role in the region, he said: “Our expectation is that Pakistan will not provide safe harbor to terrorists on their western border”.
“We couldn’t have made that message any more clear,” he said, adding: “Pakistan will be held to account if they don’t achieve that, if they’re not sincere in that effort.”
“Hope Pakistan achieves [the] goal we have set for them,” he stated.
“Everyone wants a reconciliation in Afghanistan and to achieve that, you can’t have a safe harbor for Taliban, for Haqqani and for others inside of Pakistan,” the state secretary said.
He added that the US has not changed its policy on the South Asian region which was unveiled by President Donald Trump, accusing Pakistan of providing shelter to the terrorists.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/trump-ratchets-up-pressure-on-pakistan-vows-not-to-quit-afghanistan/
In the turns of the events, the Trump administration last month suspend $300 million military aid to Pakistan for alleged ties with militants, overlooking the Islamabad’s efforts to control the militancy in the country.
Pakistan has been denied the allegation as baseless, stating that the country suffered human and financial losses in the war on terror.
