Washington: President Donald Trump will dispatch his top diplomatic and military advisers to Pakistan in the coming weeks, turning up the heat on a nuclear-armed ally accused of harbouring terror groups. Weeks after Trump accused Islamabad of providing safe haven to “agents of chaos,” secretary of state Rex Tillerson plans to depart for Pakistan later this month. He will be followed by secretary of defence Jim Mattis, according to US and Pakistani sources.
The one-two punch is designed to drill home Trump's message that Pakistani state support for jihadist groups has to end, according to officials briefed on the visits. Washington has long been frustrated by Pakistan's willingness to offer cross-border safe havens to Taliban factions and armed jihadist groups.
Visiting Washington, Pakistan's foreign minister Khawaja Asif appeared unwavering. “Instead of accusations and threats we should cooperate with each other for the peace in the region,” he said.
US govt tells Pakistan to deliver regional peace
Talks between the US and Pakistan on Islamabad's role in fomenting terrorism and instability in Afghanistan and the sub-continent have yielded little, with principals on both sides distracted by domestic developments. Embroiled in a messy controversy at home over his purported rift with the US President and whether he called Trump a moron, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson engaged his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Asif with little enthusiasm. Pakistan's foreign minister, on his part, brought nothing to the table, at least publicly, other than the familiar laundry list of complaints and disclaimers, despite warnings from the Trump administration that it was running out of time before Washington initiates punitive action.
The little that Tillerson said -ahead of his talks with Asif - was not entirely flattering to Pakistan. It revealed the Trump administration's disquiet over the state of affairs in Pakistan, including its continued subversive role in the region, its confrontation with India, and reports of a growing rift between the military and the civilian leadership inside the country.
As a result, Tillerson framed US-Pakistan ties in the regional context rather than giving it any bilateral lift. Asked if the US has a reliable partner in Pakistan now, this was his response: “Yes, I believe we do. I think the Pakistan relationship and the US relationship is extraordinarily important regionally. And as we rolled out the South Asia strategy, we spoke about it in a regional context. It is not just about Afghanistan.
“This is about the importance of Pakistan and Pakistan's long-term stability as well. We have concerns about the future of Pakistan's government, too, in terms of them - we want their government to be stable and we want it to be peaceful. And many of the same issues they're struggling with inside of Pakistan are our issues,” he added cryptically. Further remarks suggested Pakistan could regain favours in Washington only if it stopped its regional subversion and delivered peace.
