WASHINGTON: Pakistan and India need to pursue closer relations with each other on the security front, says the US State Depart­ment while noting that better ties between the two neighbours would benefit the entire region.

At a Friday afternoon news briefing, the department’s Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner clarified that the US still wanted the Taliban to participate in reconciliation talks with the Afghan government. The Obama administration’s decision to authorise Ame­rican troops to participate in offensive operations against Taliban militants had not changed the US position on peace talks, he added.

“We need to pursue closer relations with India, with Pakistan, and they need to also pursue closer relations on the security front, certainly, with each other,” Mr Toner said.

“That’s to the benefit of all of us and that includes Afghanistan as well, because there continue to be serious terrorist threats,” he said when asked to comment on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on terrorism in his address to a joint session of the US Congress this week.

“I do agree with him [Mr Modi], there’s no justification for terrorism, and we all need to work in a concerted and coordinated fashion to address it, and we’re trying to do so,” he said.

The remarks reflect a growing feeling in Washington that better relations between India and Pakistan were necessary for restoring peace to Afghanistan. This feeling is more often echoed in US think tanks where scholars and experts argue that India and Pakistan will continue competing for influence in Afghanistan as long as their relations do not improve.

In private conversations, US policy makers also acknowledge Pakistan’s fears that India has and could use Afghanistan for stirring troubles in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochis­tan. But they also voice India’s concern that during the Taliban reign, Pakistan used Afghanistan for incubating terrorism and could do so again if it was allowed to rebuild its influence in the neighbouring country.

At a recent congressional hearing, US officials and lawmakers both said that “peace and prosperity” in Afghanistan cannot be restored without Pakistan’s support.

Similarly, they argued, a strong and stable Afghanistan was also necessary for peace and stability in Pakistan. But all participants conceded that this objective could not be achieved without improvement in India-Pakistan ties.

The Obama administration, which completes its second and last tenure this year, wants to restore at least some peace and stability to Afghanistan before leaving.

Apparently, that’s why it has increased pressure on Pakistan to stop supporting the Haqqani network and other Taliban factions.

In recent briefings, US officials have categorically said that the Taliban could be defeated if Pakistan also starts targeting Afghan Taliban factions allegedly hiding inside the country.

According to diplomatic sources, when an American delegation raised this issue during a visit to Islamabad and Rawalpindi earlier this week, it was reminded that Afghanistan too had sheltered militants of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and was allowing them to carry out terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

Pakistani officials also urged US officials to persuade the Afghan government to target TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah.

While it is not clear if the US will persuade Kabul to go after the TTP chief, the US decision to kill Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Mansour in Balochistan indicated Washington’s readiness to attack targets inside Pakistan.

The Obama administration’s latest decision to allow American troops to participate in offensive operations caused speculations in the US media if those troops would also pursue fleeing Taliban fighters into Pakistan. Some speculated that while US troops may not cross over into Pakistan, they might carry out airstrikes against fleeing militants inside Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2016