Pakistan has not taken \u201csustained or decisive\u201d steps against terror safe havens as expected by the US, a top American diplomat has said, nearly a year after President Donald Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy accusing Islamabad of harbouring terrorists.<\/p>\n
Alice G Wells, Senior Bureau Official for South and Central Asian Affairs said despite some positive indicators, the US has not yet seen Pakistan taking the sustained or decisive steps that it would have expected to see ten months after the announcement of the South Asia strategy, including \u201carresting or expelling Taliban elements who will not come to the negotiating table.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wells, who is scheduled to testify before the House Foreign Affairs Committee today, said in her prepared statement ahead of her hearing that \u201cPakistan is on notice that we expect its unequivocal cooperation ending sanctuaries\u201d that the Taliban have enjoyed since the remnants of their toppled regime fled into Pakistan in 2001. The US, she said, is engaging with all of Afghanistan\u2019s neighbours and near neighbours to build regional support for the Afghan government\u2019s peace vision and discourage spoilers.<\/p>\n
Unveiling his new South Asia strategy in August last year, Trump had accused Pakistan of giving \u201csafe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror,\u201d and said the time had come \u201cfor Pakistan to demonstrate its commitment to civilisation, order, and to peace\u201d. Trump had also sought a major role for India in bringing peace in Afghanistan. The House Foreign Affairs Committee has convened a hearing on US Policy Toward Afghanistan. During the hearing, Wells said Pakistan has an important role to play and has legitimate interests that it wants to ensure are met during any peace process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe dialogue that we have with Pakistan seeks to address those concerns while also encouraging additional concrete support for Afghan peace efforts,\u201d she said. For example, with US support, Pakistan and Afghanistan entered into a constructive dialogue to develop the Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS), an initiative to which we have given our full support, the US diplomat said.<\/p>\n
Wells said all of Afghanistan\u2019s neighbours \u2013 from Iran and Russia, to India, China, and the Central Asian states \u2013 have repeatedly stated their support for an Afghan peace process. \u201cAll of these countries feel a strong stake in Afghanistan\u2019s future security and stability. They all would benefit from a political settlement in Afghanistan, which would help to reduce the terrorist and narcotics threat to their own citizens and also bolster regional economic cooperation,\u201d she noted. In a statement ahead of the hearing, Congressman Ed Royce, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said a stable and secure Afghanistan is in the interest of the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cAchieving this requires a credible US military presence and an equally strong diplomatic strategy. This hearing will look at the administration\u2019s policy toward Afghanistan, particularly in light of upcoming elections, the challenges regional actors pose to Afghanistan and efforts to counter violent extremism,\u201d Royce said. In her prepared testimony, Wells said the administration\u2019s conditions-based South Asia Strategy ensures the Taliban cannot win on the battlefield. \u201cBut it recognises that a resolution to the conflict will be through a negotiated political settlement. Our desired outcomes for any peace process are clear and have not changed. The Taliban must renounce violence, break ties with al-Qaeda, and accept the Afghan Constitution including its protections for women and minorities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
According to Wells, after more than 16 years of war, there is a real opportunity this year to start an Afghan peace process that could lead to a durable settlement of the conflict. \u201cSuch a settlement would help secure vital US interests and ultimately reduce the costs associated with America\u2019s long-term engagement in Afghanistan,\u201d she said. \u201cThe basis for our cautious optimism starts with the Afghan government, which under President (Ashraf) Ghani\u2019s strong leadership is doing everything possible to signal its openness to a dialogue with the Taliban,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pakistan has not taken \u201csustained or decisive\u201d steps against terror safe havens as expected by the US, a top American diplomat has said, nearly a year after President Donald Trump unveiled his South Asia strategy accusing Islamabad of harbouring terrorists. Alice G Wells, Senior Bureau Official for South and Central Asian Affairs said despite some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34812,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34810\/revisions\/34812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}