Washington: Concerned over the extremist
threat that exists within Pakistan`s borders, the US has asked
Islamabad to take "decisive action" against such elements
operating from its soil.
"We have encouraged Pakistan to take decisive action
to deal with the threat within its borders...," State
Department spokesman P J Crowley said.
Responding to allegations by Afghan National Security
Advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta that Pakistan continues to mentor
terrorist outfits, Crowley said one cannot look at this in
isolation and through the lens of a zero-sum calculation.
"It is in the United States interest to work with
Afghanistan to deal with a threat that is of direct
consequence to US, a threat from al-Qaeda.
"Likewise, it`s in our interest to work effectively
with Pakistan to deal with that extremist threat that exists
within Pakistan`s borders," he said.
Crowley said the countries in South Asia should work
more effectively together to help reduce the threat of
terrorism to any one of them.
"Does Afghanistan need to have a constructive
relationship with Pakistan? It does. Does Pakistan have to
have a constructive relationship with India? It does," he
said.
"Should all these countries need to avoid a zero-sum
mentality that a gain on one side is necessarily a detriment
on the other? We think that to the extent that these countries
can work more effectively together, that will ultimately help
reduce the threat of terrorism to any one of them," he said.
Crowley was responding to recent media reports that
the Pakistan`s ISI no longer considers India as its top
threat, but considers internal terrorism as its main threat.
"We have certainly encouraged countries in the region
to work collectively together because they confront a shared
threat, and we think some of these challenges can only be
resolved through effective and coordinated action across the
region," Crowley said.
-PTI
