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Trump's Officials: Pakistan needs to do more to defuse tensions with India

They also pointed to India considering punitive actions in response to Pakistan's alleged support for cross-border terrorism.

By Prabhpreet
|
Google Oneindia News

After the reported cold shoulder treatment that was given to the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the Arab-Islamic-US summit, held in Saudi Arabia which US President Donald Trump attended, the current tensions between India and Pakistan have now seen a response from the US, as the Trump administration believes that Pakistan needs to do more in order to stop the terrorism being exported from within its borders.

Trump's Officials: Pakistan needs to do more to defuse tensions with India

The US has now concluded that calming of the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan depend on sustained steps which need to be taken by Pakistan. These include a "sharp and sustained reduction" of cross-border terrorism and "progress in the Pathankot investigation." It also believes that India is considering punitive options, in order to raise the cost of supporting cross-border terrorism for Pakistan.

Such a stand shows from the statements by two senior officials of the current administration, in front of a US senate Committee on Armed Services on Tuesday as a part of its Worldwide Threats Assessment of the US intelligence community. The statement by the officials gives a view of the current regime on the India-Pakistan issue.

Daniel R Coats, Director Of National Intelligence, was reported as having said, "Relations between India and Pakistan remain tense following two major terrorist attacks in 2016 by militants crossing into India from Pakistan. They might deteriorate further in 2017, especially in the event of another high-profile terrorist attack in India that New Delhi attributes to originating in or receiving assistance from Pakistan. Islamabad's failure to curb support to anti-India militants and New Delhi's growing intolerance of this policy, coupled with a perceived lack of progress in Pakistan's investigations into the January 2016 Pathankot cross-border attack, set the stage for a deterioration of bilateral relations in 2016."

The significant part related to the testimony given by Coats comes from the fact that he was appointed by the Trump and he was only confirmed in March. "Increasing numbers of firefights along the Line of Control, including the use of artillery and mortars, might exacerbate the risk of unintended escalation between these nuclear-armed neighbours. Easing of heightened Indo-Pakistani tension, including negotiations to renew official dialogue, will probably hinge in 2017 on a sharp and sustained reduction of cross-border attacks by terrorist groups based in Pakistan and progress in the Pathankot investigation," he reportedly said, at the hearing.

The other official to voice a similar opinion was Lieutenant General Vincent R Stewart, Director of Defense Intelligence Agency, who reportedly said, "Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan worsened following several terrorist attacks in India. Continued threat of high-level terror attacks in India, violence in Kashmir and bilateral diplomatic recriminations will further strain India-Pakistan ties in 2017. Following a terrorist attack on an Army base in Indian Kashmir last September, New Delhi conducted a highly publicised operation against militants across the Line of Control."

This assumes importance as it was the first time that any senior member of the US administration has acknowledged and given importance to the strikes conducted by India inside Pakistani territory, which have been termed 'Surgical Strikes'. following the attacks on an air force base in Pathankot, India, and the Uri terror attacks of last year.

"In 2016, Indian and Pakistani forces exchanged some of the heaviest fire in years along the Line of Control in Kashmir, and each expelled a number of the other's diplomats amid growing tension. India has sought and continues to move to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive options to raise the cost to Islamabad for its alleged support to cross-border terrorism," Lt Gen Stewart, added.

Such statements have put the spotlight back on Pakistan as it becomes part of the main focus the Trump presidency has put on the spread of terrorism. And the officials also pointed to the danger that the terrorist network poses to the security of the US.

Coats has also reportedly said, "Pakistani-based terrorist groups will present a sustained threat to US interests in the region and continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan. The threat to the United States and the West from Pakistani-based terrorist groups will be persistent but diffuse. Plotting against the US homeland will be conducted on a more opportunistic basis or driven by individual members within these groups."

He also focussed on the risk terrorist groups in Pakistan pose the country itself, as he reportedly said, "Pakistan will probably be able to manage its internal security. Anti-Pakistan groups will probably focus more on soft targets. The groups we judge will pose the greatest threat to Pakistan's internal security include Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Ahrar, al-Qa'ida in the Indian Subcontinent, ISIS-K, Lashkar-e Jhangvi, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi al-Alami. The emerging China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will probably offer militants and terrorists additional targets."

And on the threat that Pakistan's nuclear weapons might lead to he added, "Pakistan's pursuit of tactical nuclear weapons potentially lowers the threshold for their use. Early deployment during a crisis of smaller, more mobile nuclear weapons would increase the amount of time that systems would be outside the relative security of a storage site, increasing the risk that a coordinated attack by non-state actors might succeed in capturing a complete nuclear weapon."

OneIndia News

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