The White House on Friday stated that Pakistan had failed to take decisive action against terror groups and it warned Islamabad that the US will not think twice and is prepared to take action on its own to safeguard its personnel in Afghanistan.
While announcing his South Asia Policy in August 2017, US President Trump criticized Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups which were carrying out attacks in Afghanistan
A senior US administration official told reporters that six months after the announcement of the South Asia Policy by the President, Pakistan has still failed to take decisive action which was sought by the US.
He also said that the US was still seeking action from Pakistan, which was not apparent and visible. The US wants concrete action and not just words, on the Taliban and the Haqqani sanctuaries. It was evident that the White House was not very pleased with the developments.
The official also stated that it was Pakistan’s choice on which direction it wanted to take in its future relationship and added that the US was still engaging with Pakistani leaders. According to the official the US was interested in addressing some of the Pakistani concerns, but the ball now lay in Islamabad’s court.
The US was holding Pakistan accountable for its actions and it was clear that the President was not very happy with the developments. The US had communicated clearly to Pakistan that decisive action was demanded. US wants complete elimination of terrorist safe havens from Pakistan.
The US wants urgent and immediate action against Pakistan based terror groups which target India like Lashkar-e-Taiba AND Jaish-e-Mohammed
Criticizing the release of Hafeez Saeed in November last year, he said it was a step in the wrong direction according to the US. It was also clear that Pakistan was not taking steps to curb terror financing.
The US and the World are watching closely how Pakistan is responding to US pressure. The US wants Pakistan to catch the bull of terror by the horns and take decisive and effective steps in curbing terrorism and terror funding.
