Washington: In a stern warning, the US asked Pakistan to rein in terror groups working from its soil or otherwise another terrorist attack against India can be “extremely problematic” for the Islamic nation.
While referring to some actions taken by Pakistan against terrorists the official replied that the US administration expects the Pakistanis to take “irreversible and sustained” actions against terrorist groups.
The White House official said, “But we clearly need to see more. We need to see irreversible action because in the past, what we’ve seen is they made some arrests and then a few months later, they released these individuals. The terrorist leaders are sometimes still allowed to travel around the country, hold rallies.”
The US, which has extended its strong support for India after the Pulwama attack and the Balakot airstrike, continues to pressurize Pakistan in league with other countries.
Pointing to the economic woes of Pakistan the US official reminded about the risk of being listed on the ‘grey list’ of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which will make it hard for Pakistan to get financial assistance from other nations and international bodies.
Reiterating the United States’ strong stand against terrorism the official said, “The terrorist attack on February 14th on India was a demonstration that Pakistan’s continuing provision of sanctuary for any terrorist group is not acceptable.”
The official also did not hide the US disappointment with China for vetoing the UN Security Council resolution to list the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as international terrorist.
He said , “We think China has a responsibility to also not shield Pakistan, and join the international community in calling on Pakistan to take action against terrorists operating on its soil.”
