WASHINGTON: The US State Department Monday acknowledged Pakistani measures to counter terrorism as the South Asian nation slammed the United States and India for a “one-sided” statement issued after President Joe Biden’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the two countries demanded Islamabad take steps to make sure that Pakistani soil is not being used in “launching terror attacks”.
During his press conference Monday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said America recognises that Pakistan has taken some important steps to counter terrorist groups in line with the completion of its Financial Action Task Force action plans.
“…we remain committed to working with Pakistan to address the shared threat posed by terrorist groups throughout the region,” the spokesperson mentioned.
The Pakistani people have suffered tremendously from terrorist attacks over the years, he highlighted.
Miller said at the same time; however, the US has also been consistent on the importance of Pakistan continuing to take steps to permanently disband all terrorist groups.
“And we will raise the issue regularly with Pakistani officials, and will continue to work together to counter mutual terrorist threats,” the spokesperson added.
Pakistan lodges protest
In response to the strongly-worded statement, Pakistan on Monday summoned an American diplomat to the Foreign Office to lodge a protest.
“The US Deputy Chief of Mission was called to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this evening and a demarche was made to him regarding the US-India Joint Statement,” the Foreign Office said.
The FO said Pakistan’s concerns and disappointment at the “unwarranted, one-sided and misleading references to it in the Joint Statement were conveyed to the US side”.
It was stressed that the US should refrain from issuing statements that may be construed as encouragement of India’s baseless and politically motivated narrative against Pakistan, it added.
The FO communique also emphasised that counter-terrorism cooperation between Pakistan and US had been progressing well and that an enabling environment, centred around trust and understanding, was imperative to further solidifying bilateral ties between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also rejected the US-India joint statement, with the latter saying that “terrorism entered Pakistan because it acted as an ally of the United States in the war on terrorism”.
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