Pakistan Cautions U.S. on Two-pronged Offensive
By PTI
The key element in the new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan is to launch a two-pronged military offensive that inflicts a military defeat on the Taliban and forces them to join the Afghan reconciliation process on Kabul’s conditions, diplomatic sources told Dawn news.
U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis at his weekend briefing at the Pentagon urged Islamabad to cooperate with the U.S. in defeating the Afghan Taliban.
Pakistan fear that a major military offensive, without engaging some Taliban factions in direct talks first, could be counterproductive. The Taliban might outlive this offensive too, and deal with it “lying low in their mountain fastness, as they did with previous offensives”, one interlocutor said.
And in the process Pakistan will lose whatever influence it has. With all lines of communication closed, the Taliban will become even more dangerous, particularly for Pakistan, which has always faced the blowback of previous adventures in Afghanistan, whether launched by the Russians or Americans, the report said.
This article was originally published by The Hindu -
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Opposed To US 'Finger-pointing' At Pakistan On Terror-related Issues: China
By
PTI
BEIJING: China on Monday said it is opposed
to the US "finger-pointing" at Pakistan+ and
linking it with terrorism, insisting that
the responsibility of cracking down on
terror outfits cannot be placed on a
particular country.
China's support for its all-weather ally
came as the US stepped up its efforts to
pressure Pakistan to eliminate terror safe
havens on its soil.
The US last week suspended approximately $2
billion in security assistance to Pakistan
for its failure to take decisive action
against terror groups like the Taliban and
the Haqqani Network.
"China has always opposed linking terrorism
with any certain country and we don't agree
to place the responsibility of anti
terrorism on a certain country," Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a
media briefing.
He was responding to a question on a White
House official's remarks that China could
play helpful role in convincing Pakistan
that it was in its national interest to
crackdown on terror safe havens.
"We have stressed many times that Pakistan
has made important sacrifices and
contributions to the global anti terrorism
cause," Lu said.
"Countries should strengthen anti-terrorism
cooperation on the basis of mutual respect
instead of finger-pointing at each other.
This is not conducive to the global
terrorism efforts," he said.
China has been vocal in extending support to
Pakistan since US President Donald Trump
increased rhetoric against Islamabad
providing safe havens for terrorists.
Trump in a New Year's Day tweet accused the
country of giving nothing to the US but
"lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven"
to terrorists in return for $33 billion aid
over the last 15 years.
Chinese media has been speculating that
Trump's efforts to step up pressure on
Pakistan may move it closer to Beijing as
China is involved in a number of projects in
the country under the $50 billion China
Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
This article was originally published by
Times Of India
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- See Also -
US confirms suspension of USD2 billion in military aid to Pakistan
US blaming Pakistan for failures in Afghanistan unfair: Aizaz Chaudhry
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