Dear reader, online ads enable us to deliver the journalism you value. Please support us by taking a moment to
WASHINGTON: Hours after the meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, the United States reminded Pakistan that it was prepared to take necessary steps to protect its personnel in Afghanistan if Islamabad did not stop cross-border attacks.
The warning, given at a special news briefing on Friday afternoon, followed the unscheduled Abbasi-Pence meeting at the US Naval Observatory, the vice president’s official residence.
Sources briefed on this one-on-one meeting told reporters that Mr Pence also focused on this issue [Afghan policy] in the 30 minutes that he spent with the Pakistani leader.
At 3pm — almost four and a half hours after the meeting — senior Trump administration officials held a special briefing for Washington-based journalists to convey their dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s Afghan policy.
Pence urges Abbasi to ‘do more’ against Taliban
“Six months after the announcement of the South Asia Policy, Pakistan is yet to take the kind of decisive actions that the US is seeking,” one of the officials said. “We are continuing to look for real actions and not word on the Taliban and the Haqqani sanctuaries,” the official added.
The official demanded “cooperative action” against terrorists from Pakistan but warned that the United States was prepared to take its own measures to protect its personnel in Afghanistan if Islamabad did not.
The official did not give a timeline but stressed the urgency to prevent alleged cross-border attacks on US and Afghan troops in Afghanistan.
“It’s Pakistan choice in which direction it wants to take the future of the relationship,” said the official, adding that the US was still engaging Pakistani leaders and was willing to address its concerns.
The official said that US President Donald Trump was constantly monitoring progress on the South Asia policy he launched in August and wanted Pakistan to do more than “the bare minimum” it’s doing now.
“President has made it clear that he is not satisfied with the actions Pakistan has taken so far. We have communicated what we mean by decisive action,” the official added.
Those briefed on the Abbasi-Pence meeting said Mr Pence too devoted much of his talk to Afghanistan, emphasising the need for immediate action from Pakistan to stop cross-border attacks.
AFP adds: During the meeting on Friday, Mr Pence told Prime Minister Abbasi that Pakistan “must do more” against the Taliban and other militants.
“Vice President Pence reiterated President (Donald) Trump’s request that the government of Pakistan must do more to address the continued presence of the Taliban, Haqqani network, and other terrorist groups operating in their country,” the White House said in a statement on Saturday.
“Pakistan could and should work closer with the United States,” Mr Pence said.According to Washington, there is little sign that Islamabad has made a decision to end its support for the Taliban.
Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2018
Comments (13) Closed
Why is Pakistan doing only minimum required?
The PM was shown his worth in documented files and told to do more
PM Abbasi should never have gone to see the VP However, Pakistan must focus on economy and security of our side of the border. Repatriation of Afghans must also be a priority.
This Is becoming repetitive and boring.
The US administration speak as if they have bought our liberty and self respect. What they should realize is that there are worlds beyond US, and US is not the center of the universe.
As i said yesterday he was called to give this message. Foreign office can give out any statement to fool domestic audience. Reality is different.
@Samir "Why is Pakistan doing only minimum required?"
Why India refused US request to contribute 15,000 troops to Afghanistan?
Continue doing more and more all your life in this vicious never ending circle and don't even of ever getting out of it. Your masters demand that you submit to their will in Toto. So be it, my master, we will go on serving you even at the cost of our and our children's lives, not even claiming any more than what we get through your benevolence. And oh yes, you are at liberty to appoint our arch enemy as the police man in our area. That is your right and you are welcome to exercise it any time you wish.
No matter Pakistan does, the US government will keep harping on do more.
We need S400 system to protect our aerial airspace from the US air strikes.
Yet another cruel, stupid and silly joke by the racist Donald Trump and his cunning and crooked cronies, who in fact have no idea about what they're saying or doing.
Why do what a fool will do? A fool does the same thing what a wise man does, but the fool does it after incurring heavy losses. Did the US not try such things in Vietnam? Did they succeed? Why is there peace in Vietnam today and no peace in Afghanistan?
PM Abbasi was not an official tour, he went to witness the surgery of a relative, then how come, these meetings took place on private visit?
Pakistan is joining with Russia so once again American aggression will be stopped in it's tracks.....Putin is the worlds best leader nd the only one for peace