As part of its new South Asia strategy to stop “Islamist terrorism and extremism”, the United States has strongly reiterated that Pakistan must combat terror outfits on its soil, offering American help in any pursuit of the kind if only Islamabad demonstrated its desire to partner with Washington.
If Afghanistan has to avoid becoming once again a safe haven for terrorists as it was before the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Pakistan “must contribute by combating terrorist groups on its own soil”, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson wrote in an op-ed piece in The New York Times on Thursday. “We are prepared to partner with Pakistan to defeat terrorist organisations seeking safe havens, but Pakistan must demonstrate its desire to partner with us,” Tillerson noted, against the backdrop of strong American disapproval of Islamabad’s continuing kid-glove treatment of lashkar-e-Tayyeba founder and Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
“Defeating terrorism remains one of the president’s highest priorities,” Rex Tillerson noted in a broad stock-taking of the first year of American diplomacy under the Trump administration that also touted the successes of the global coalition to defeat ISIS.
Suggesting that the recapture of territory that ISIS had taken control of in Iraq and Syria was due to the Trump administration’s “aggressive strategy”, delegating greater authority to US military commanders on the battlefield to act with speed in partnership with indigenous fighting forces, Tillerson noted that the same "commitment to stopping Islamist terrorism and extremism" has motivated its push for a new South Asia strategy, with its focus on Afghanistan. “While our military was helping clear Iraq and Syria of ISIS forces, our diplomats were following up with humanitarian aid and assistance, such as clearing land mines, restoring water and power, and getting children back in school,” he wrote.
In his opinion piece, titled “I Am Proud of Our Diplomacy”, Tillerson asserted that Americans should be encouraged by the progress made by the State Department and the US Agency for International Development in pushing for global peace and stability.