ISLAMABAD: In response to a “one-sided” joint statement critical of Pakistan issued by the United States and India after President Joe Biden’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the State Department on Monday recognised Islamabad’s measures to combat terrorism.
The Foreign Office summoned the US embassy’s deputy chief of mission to express concern over the statement last week that called on Pakistan to ensure its territory was not used as a base for attacks.
The statement was released after a meeting between the two leaders on Friday and had received criticism from Pakistan, which called it contrary to diplomatic norms.
During a press conference on Monday, a State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, emphasized that the United States acknowledges Pakistan’s significant steps in countering terrorist groups, in alignment with the completion of its Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plans.
Miller said: “…we remain committed to working with Pakistan to address the shared threat posed by terrorist groups throughout the region.”
Highlighting the suffering endured by the nation of Pakistan due to attacks over the years, Miller underscored the importance of Pakistan’s continuous efforts to “permanently dismantle all terrorist” organisations.
“At the same time, however, we have also been consistent on the importance of Pakistan continuing to take steps to permanently dismantle all terrorist groups, including Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad, and their various front organizations and we will raise the issue regularly with Pakistani officials,” he said.
He further expressed the US government’s intention to regularly raise this issue with Pakistan and maintain collaboration in countering mutual terrorist threats.
Relations between Pakistan and India have been fraught for years. Since independence from Britain in 1947, they have fought three wars, two of them over the Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
The army claimed on Saturday that two civilians were killed by Indian forces in firing across the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border in Kashmir, the first such conflict since a ceasefire in 2021 between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.
— With Reuters
