The United States of America has done some tough talking with Pakistan by asking its leadership to act firmly against terror groups and eliminate them at the earliest from its soil. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is touring Pakistan, said terror groups like the “Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani Network, leT and other groups continue to pose a threat to Pakistan, its neighbours and the US.”
“We all have a responsibility to ensure that these extremists are no longer able to secure a foothold in this country or elsewhere. Make no mistake,” Kerry said besides advising Pakistan and India to resume peace talks overcoming “historical mistrust”.
While expressing concern over border tension between India and Pakistan, and the recent spate of increased violence along the working boundary and the line of Control (loC), Kerry said the US would continue to encourage the two sides to move forward and hold dialogue to resolve the issue.
However, Pakistan made it clear that Kashmir firmly remains the core issue between the two nations and it will not start any dialogue with India if the Kashmir issue was not part of the agenda.
And while the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz reassured Kerry that action would be taken without discrimination against all militant groups, he appealed to the US to intervene on the India-Pak
standoff.
“We hope that the US, as an influential member of the international community can prevail upon India to work with Pakistan towards regional peace,” Aziz said while insisting that Pakistan wanted “peaceful relations with all its neighbours, both on eastern and western borders.”
“Their (Haqqani network’s) ability to operate from here to Afghanistan has virtually disappeared. We expect our Defence forces to remain engaged in counter-terrorism operations for some time in the foreseeable future,” Aziz said as he sought aid from the US to help rebuild the regions where the army has been fighting militants. learning from bitter past experiences, the US has told Pakistan that it would adopt a policy of wait and watch on the steps taken by Islamabad in fighting terror as the “proof of the pudding is in the eating “. Kerry announced that $250 million in previously appropriated money will be given to emergency relief efforts in the tribal areas, mainly North Waziristan.
However, Indian Army chief General Dalbir Singh said Pakistan is “actively supporting proxy war” in Jammu & Kashmir. Gen Singh said the recent attacks against the Army in J&K also underlined the fact that the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan is intact. “Recent strikes by terrorists reflect desperation, and indicate that infrastructure and camps across the borders are intact. Pakistan is supporting proxy war in J&K, despite suffering causality within their own country,” Gen Singh said referring to the recent killing of schoolchildren in Peshawar Army School by Taliban militants.
Backing the Army chief’s claims, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said India will take “pro-active” steps to deal with the “proxy war” supported by Pakistan and that a “difference” will be visible in this regard in the next six months, and it will be ensured that the “enemy” doesn’t show any more interest in “proxy war”.
“On proxy war we have taken a stand...You will be able to see the difference by the time summer gets over. In the next six months you will see the difference in actual figures. We want peace with our neighbours, but if there is an attempt for proxy war, we will take some proactive steps,” Parrikar said.
Gen Singh asserted that violence along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan has increased substantially in recent times mainly because the counter-infiltration (CI) grid and measures like ‘obstacle systems’ had made the loC difficult to breach for terrorists.
“The effectiveness of the Indian security forces has given confidence to the people of J&K, which is why they came out in huge numbers to vote,” Gen Singh said. The chief added that Commanders have been given a free hand to retaliate based on their own assessment of the situation, but without causing human rights violations.
On China, Gen Singh said demarcation of line of Actual Control will be the first step towards resolution of border dispute and reducing transgressions, face-offs. India is also keenly watching the spillover effect of Afghanistan due to drawdown of NATO forces. “Threats and challenges have been growing, both in intensity as well as commitment, because of active borders that we have. Terrorist network can extend from Afghanistan to our side and J&K is one area where the effect could be felt,” Gen Singh said.