John Kerry offers to aid India-Pakistan ties amid Afghan exit
Kerry stressed the need for Pakistan to eliminate all militant groups, no matter whether they have foreign or domestic targets
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Islamabad: US secretary of state John Kerry offered to help India and Pakistan overcome decades of distrust to ensure Afghanistan’s stability as American troops withdraw.
“The United States will do whatever we can in that effort," Kerry told reporters on Tuesday in Islamabad, referring to improving ties between India and Pakistan. “We need to work together to support a secure, stable Afghanistan," he added.
Kerry is seeking to stave off a proxy war between the nuclear-armed neighbours in Afghanistan as the US withdraws most troops by the end of next year. Pakistan was one of three countries to recognize the ousted Taliban regime and has been accused by US lawmakers of harboring its leaders.
Throughout his 24-hour visit, Kerry stressed the need for Pakistan to eliminate all militant groups, no matter whether they have foreign or domestic targets. He said the massacre of 134 students at a Peshawar-based military school last month may have changed attitudes in Pakistan.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif repeated on Tuesday that Pakistan is taking all necessary steps to root out terrorism. Kerry, who met on Tuesday with Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders, said there was “strong consensus expressed about the importance of combating all forms of terrorism."
“We all of us have a responsibility to ensure that these groups do not gain a foothold, but rather are pushed back into the recesses," Kerry said, mentioning the Taliban, the Afghan- focused Haqqani network and the anti-India group Lashkar-e- Taiba.
‘Enormous credit’
He praised Pakistan’s military offensive in tribal areas near the Afghan border.
“The operation is not yet complete, but already the results are significant and Pakistani forces and their commanders deserve enormous credit," Kerry said. He said that the US would deepen security ties with Pakistan “to eliminate threats from the border area and elsewhere."
After the 11 September terrorist attacks, Pakistan has received billions of dollars in US aid while providing supply lines for its invasion of Afghanistan. The relationship has also been marked with tension over disputes about whether Pakistan is doing enough to combat military groups.
Border fighting
Ties between India and Pakistan have deteriorated in recent months. The worst border firing in a decade came in September after India cancelled talks because Pakistani diplomats held meetings with Kashmiri separatist leaders. No talks have been scheduled since.
Kerry said the US was “deeply concerned’ by the increase in cross-border violence and called on India and Pakistan to cooperate on trade and counter-terrorism.
‘‘It is profoundly in the interest of Pakistan and India to move this relationship forward,’’ Kerry said. ‘‘This is the hardest kind of work.’’
Sartaj Aziz, an adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, called India’s cancellation of talks a ‘‘serious concern.’’
‘‘Pakistan wants peaceful relations with all its neighbours, both our eastern and western borders,’’ Aziz said in the joint briefing with Kerry. ‘‘With India we want a constructive sustained and results-oriented dialogue on all issues of mutual concern.’’
Indian foreign ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin had no immediate comment.
India commanders
Army chief Dalbir Singh on Tuesday told reporters that Pakistan is supporting a proxy war in Kashmir, and that Indian commanders were free to retaliate. India and Pakistan have fought three of their four wars since partition in 1947 over the Kashmir region, which is divided between them.
The US withdrawal of troops in Afghanistan could affect India’s security, Singh said.
‘‘Terrorist networks from Afghanistan can extend to India, particularly Kashmir,’’ he said. ‘‘We are keeping a careful watch.’’
Kerry on Tuesday also praised efforts by Pakistan and Afghanistan to improve ties. Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s November visit to Islamabad, Sharif’s attendance at a London conference on Afghanistan in December and improved coordination among intelligence services were ‘‘enormously important steps," Kerry said.
“We particularly welcome Pakistan’s support for Afghan-led reconciliation," he said, pledging US backing for the effort. “Such a process is the surest way to reduce extremist violence and provide lasting peace and security." Bloomberg
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