Washington, July 18: The United States made it emphatically clear that it will not declare Pakistan a terrorist state as it had been a very "stalwart ally" in America's fight against terrorism. "As far as putting Pakistan on the terrorism list, just to point out again Pakistan has been a very stalwart ally in the fight against terrorism," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters Wednesday.
His comment came close on the heels of Home Minister L K Advani's statement in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday saying that if US had threatened to declare Pakistan a terrorist state, Islamabad would have certainly taken effective steps to dismantle terrorist infrastructure within its territory.
Boucher also said that infiltration across the Line of Control is down ever since Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf pledged to halt it, adding further steps be taken to stop it permanently. Bureau Report