President Donald Trump’s nominee for US Under Secretary of Defence for Policy John C Rood has expressed the view that the United States must make it clear to Pakistan that its continuing safe havens for terrorists will not be tolerated.
At a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Rood said, “We can’t tolerate that sort of support (by Pakistan) that will undermine our efforts in Afghanistan where our troops have been fighting and we’ve had over 2,000 of our Americans killed in that conflict.”
Responding to questions from Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, Rood said that Pakistan’s sheltering of the Taliban and Haqqani network has undercut US efforts in Pakistan. “Unfortunately, this is a problem that’s persisted really over the 16 years of that conflict, a very stubborn problem to solve,” he said.
While the US needs to maintain a constructive relationship with Pakistan to advance mutual interests, it should at the same time “demonstrate its serious concerns about Pakistan expanding its nuclear programme and providing safe haven for militant groups in its territory”, Rood said separately in written answers to questions from the Senate panel.
“Sanctuary and freedom of movement for the Afghan Taliban and associated militant networks inside Pakistani territory continue to be contributing factors that negatively impact security conditions and stability inside Pakistan,” Rood said, adding: “If confirmed, I will examine ways in which we can end Pakistan’s sanctuary for terrorist networks.”
In contrast to the tough posture against Pakistan, both Rood and Randall Schriver, the Trump nominee for Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs who also faced the panel for confirmation, strongly supported closer defence relations with India.
Describing India as the US’ “natural” stratetic partner, Schriver made the case for Washington continuing to deepen the defence ties with New Delhi. Commenting on the terror networks, he noted in a written response that Haqqani network, lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammed all present threats to US persons, allies, partners and interests in the region.
“I understand that the US-India security relationship is at its strongest point in our history,” Schriver said, adding: “I am encouraged by our increasing level of defence collaboration with India. The designation of India as a Major Defence Partner in 2016 reflects the progress we are making to build a long-term and broad-based strategic partnership, and if confirmed, I will look to build on this progress.”
Voicing similar sentiments on the growth of US-India security relationship, Rood said, if confirmed, he would look for opportunities to advance it with further steps to facilitate defence trade and cooperation. “I believe it is important for senior officials in the US Defence Department to maintain regular high-level exchanges with their counterparts in India’s Ministry of Defence and continue efforts to facilitate close defence collaboration,” Rood noted.