The United States has said that it wants to see “accountability” on the part of Pakistan in bringing to justice the perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans, but has ruled out any slapping of sanctions on Islamabad on this score.
“We’ve been very clear that we want to see accountability and justice in the case of the Mumbai attacks,” State Department deputy spokesperson Mark Toner said on Tuesday, while replying to a question in the context of Secretary of State John Kerry’s reference during his recent South Asia visit to US efforts to bring to justice 26/11 attackers.
“We’ve long encouraged and pushed for greater counterterrorism cooperation, and that includes the sharing of intelligence between India and Pakistan in that regard. Those efforts continue,” Toner said, adding: “We want to see full accountability for these terrible attacks.”
He, however, made it clear that Washington is not looking at sanctioning Pakistan, noting: “We’re working with Pakistan, we’re making our concerns clear that they need to go after all the terrorist groups that are operating or seeking safe haven on their soil. And that’s been our clear objective for a long time now. We’ve seen progress, but we need to see more.”
The idea of sanctions against Islamabad over its “use of extremist and terrorist proxies” to threaten both Afghanistan and India was mooted by former US envoy to Iraq, Afghanistan and United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad during a Congressional hearing in July, titled: “Pakistan: Friend or Foe in the Fight Against TerrorismIJ”
“Pakistani proxies pose a severe threat to coalition and Afghan forces and civilians,” Khalilzad had noted in his testimony, adding: “More broadly, Pakistan’s use of extremist and terrorist proxies – including to threaten India -- is a significant contributor to the global menace of Islamic extremism.”
Toner, while steering clear of the possibility of sanctions, spoke of the conversations at the highest level with the Government of Pakistan, noting: “Our basic point in all of these conversations is that Pakistan must target all militant groups, including those that target Pakistan’s neighbours, and eliminate all safe havens.”
“We have been encouraged by some of the steps they’ve taken, some of their recent counterterrorism operations along the border of Afghanistan. And we’re going to continue to work with them to increase those efforts and apply more pressure on these groups. But the suggestion of any kind of sanctions, we’re not there,” Toner said.