Says treating India as mortal enemy is ‘an outmoded vision
Even as President Barack Obama reaffirmed America’s commitment to support Pakistan in efforts to combat terrorism following the Taliban massacre of school children in Peshawar, The New York Times has suggested that the Pakistan Army give up its India obsession and focus on battling all Taliban groups.
“Wedded to an outmoded vision of India as the mortal enemy, the (Pakistani) Army has long played a double-game, taking American aid while supporting and exploiting various Taliban groups as a hedge against India and Afghanistan, and ignoring the peril that the militants have come to pose to Pakistan itself,” the NYT said in an editorial comment onWednesday.
In a similar counsel to the Pakistani Army, The Washington Post said Army Chief Gen Sharif ought to be “acting against all extremist groups, including those that have conducted terrorist attacks against India”.“The slaughtered children in Peshawar underline a truth that Pakistan’s elite have been slow to fully accept: Islamic jehad poses a mortal threat to the nation,” The Post said in its editorial, adding: “The best response to the atrocity would be for the Army and Government to join in an uncompromising campaign against the terrorists.”
Noting that the Pakistani military has long provided support for the Afghan-focused Taliban, even while trying to fight the Pakistani Taliban in recent years, the NYT commented: “The extent of cooperation among those groups in the tribal areas has made that game even riskier…. Intelligence experts say the Army is still collaborating with the Afghan Taliban in fighting the Government in Kabul.”It went on to say that the Peshawar attack should help the Army “see the terrorist threat more clearly and strengthen its efforts to confront it or at least end support for militants in the region”.
At the State Department, spokesperson Jen Psaki, while replying to Pakistani assertions that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan’s leadership is based in Afghanistan, said: “We obviously don’t have any confirmation of those reports. Broadly speaking, the message we convey to both Afghanistan and Pakistan is that there’s no place — they should not have safe havens for any of these terrorist organizations in their countries.”
In respect of the US offer of assistance to Pakistan, Psaki said: “We continue to work closely with the Government of Pakistan. Counterterrorism is an integral part of our relationship, including in the Strategic Dialogue.”“The Pakistani Taliban’s extremism and terrorism continues to deny peace and stability to the Pakistani people and their regional neighbours. We in the United States support the Pakistani government in their fight against extremism, and we stand with the people of Pakistan during this dark hour,” said Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee chairman Robert Menendez.