WASHINGTON: The US navy has spelled out two issues it needs Pakistan to do: de-link the Pakistan-based Taliban leaders from their cadres in Afghanistan and pressure them to take part in peace talks.
Gen Joseph L. Votel, commander, US Central Command (Centcom), defined the 2 factors whereas commenting on International Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s current go to to Washington at a Pentagon information briefing this weekend.
As Centcom chief, Gen Votel is straight liable for the US-led battle in Afghanistan, which additionally consists of stopping the alleged cross-border assaults from Pakistan.
Centcom chief says fighters should not be allowed to maneuver into Pakistan to get help
“They usually want to try this by making completely positive that there are not any directions, course, different issues coming from Taliban management that continues to be in Pakistan to their fighters on the bottom,” he mentioned.
“They want to make sure that there could be no motion backwards and forwards and that fighters can’t come again into Pakistan to get help or medical care or different issues with that.”
The Pakistanis additionally “want to make use of their affect with the Taliban to pressure the Taliban management to return to the desk,” he added.
Responding to the argument that Pakistan might or might not have sufficient affect on the Taliban to pressure them to speak, Gen Votel mentioned: “They will do that, they’ll put strain on them to do that.”
On Oct 3, on the finish of his 10-day journey to the USA, Mr Qureshi spoke at a seminar on the US Institute of Peace, Washington, the place he challenged the idea that Pakistan was nonetheless permitting Afghan militants to make use of its territory for conducting assaults into Afghanistan.
He urged the US navy and members of Congress to go to Pakistan to assessment the state of affairs. “We’ll take you anyplace you wish to go, to indicate there are not any secure havens any longer and that during the last two years, the dynamic in Pakistan have modified in regard to what Islamabad is doing to assist convey a political resolution to Afghanistan,” he mentioned.
Commenting on the overseas minister’s assertion, Gen Votel mentioned: “There isn’t any doubt, and we’ve acknowledged this, that Pakistan has performed operations of their nation to root out terrorist organizations in sure areas, significantly areas up alongside the border with Afghanistan.”
The overall, nonetheless, additionally shared the US evaluation of why Taliban had been nonetheless in a position to assault targets inside Afghanistan. “We do assess there nonetheless is (Taliban) presence in Pakistan and we’d like them (Pakistanis) to proceed to try this (push them out),” he mentioned.
Referring to Mr Qureshi’s assembly with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Nationwide Safety Adviser John Bolton in Washington on Oct 2, Gen Votel famous that the Pakistani overseas minister emphasised his nation’s dedication to proceed to help efforts for an Afghan-owned and led peace and reconciliation course of.
“And he additional acknowledged that peace and stability in Afghanistan was very important for their very own stability and progress,” Gen Votel added.
The US navy, he mentioned, maintained common contacts with Pakistani navy leaders and mentioned these and different points with them.
“We want them to proceed to remain engaged on this. We want them to assist decrease the violence in Afghanistan,” mentioned the CENTCOM chief whereas explaining what US generals anticipate from their Pakistani counterpart.
Underlining the 2 issues that he recognized in his assertion — de-linking Taliban management from their cadres and forcing them to speak — Gen Votel mentioned: “These are the 2 issues that now we have continued to stress with Pakistan” however “I do acknowledge that they’ve carried out quite a bit in their very own nation”.
Nonetheless, “there may be extra to do and it’s these particular areas proper there the place we’re looking for their closest help,” he added.
Revealed in , October eighth, 2018