Pak still considers India the 'real enemy': Clinton

Washington, Dec. 4 (ANI) : US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that while Pakistan has initiated an all out war against the Taliban and other extremist organisations in Swat and South Waziristan, it still considers India the 'real enemy'.

Addressing the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee here, Clinton stressed that the offensive in Swat and South Waziristan, which is considered as Taliban's stronghold, was not enough to achieve the prime motive of dismantling Al-Qaeda's network.

"We are making the argument before our Pakistani civil and military counterparts that success in Swat and Waziristan is not enough to achieve the objective of completely destroying al-Qaeda. But the argument will take some time as Pakistan is a sovereign country, which believes that India is their real enemy," Clinton said in response to query that whether Islamabad believed that al-Qaeda was useful in stopping the Indian influence in Afghanistan.

During her testimony, the top US official highlighted that there was great 'mistrust' between the United States and Pakistan, as 'Pakistanis believed that the Americans betrayed and abandoned them in Eighties after Washington walked away when Russians withdrew from the region.'

Addressing the Committee, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates pointed out that situation in Afghanistan was more dangerous than it was 18 months ago,because 'now Pakistani Taliban were deeply involved with Al-Qaeda and posing a clear threat to the Pakistani government.'

Gates expressed concerns about Al-Qaeda supporting Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and providing assistance to attack Indian in order to destabilise the region.

"All the terrorists who have been arrested from different parts of the world lead us to the border area of Pakistan and Afghanistan," The News quoted Gates, as saying. (ANI)