[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Defence Secretary James Mattis in Islamabad
At a time when Hafiz Saeed has announced to enter politics, US have accelerated pressure on Islamabad to contain terrorists and destroy their “safe heavens” in the country. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Islamabad on Monday.
Hours before landing at Islamabad, US Defence Secretary James Mattis said that he intends to work hard to find common ground with Pakistan in the fight against terrorism. He believes that this was necessary to restore the level of stability in South Asia.
Mattis is the first top U.S. official to visit Pakistan after August 21, when Preident Trump had announced his new South Asia Strategy. He is currently on a five day four nation tour visiting Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan and Kuwait.
Mattis is visiting Islamabad about a week after White House asked Islamabad to immediately charge and arrest Hafiz Saeed, the 26/11 Mumbai attack mastermind and warned of repercussions.
Mattis was responding to questions of the reporters travelling on his way to Pakistan from Egypt. He said, “The first thing I’m going to do is do some listening, like I always do. My goal is to find common ground. I need to go, to sit down and listen to them, start there, start by listening.”
While discussing on the larger issue Mattis said, “These are 39 of the most economically powerful, generally speaking, most long-term democratic institutions in the world. These are powerful nations morally, economically and diplomatically, and certainly militarily,” he said.
He asserted that it was essential in South Asia that all countries work together saying, “I mean, can you imagine a border between Pakistan and India where economic trade is not ongoing to the benefit of people on both sides of that border. We can not only imagine it; it’s a reality right now.”
US Defence Secretary said that we have got to work together and there’s a sense of urgency. He said, “There’s people who are living below the poverty line in both those countries. So as you look at this problem, if you’ll expand the problem you can understand the sense of urgency to move beyond violence and get back to the normal order of things,” he said.
Mounting further pressure on Pakistan CIA Director Mike Pompeo has also recently warned Pakistan that if it does not eliminate the alleged safe havens inside its territory, the United States will do “everything we can” to destroy them.
Pompeo was asked at the Reagan National Defence Forum in Simi, California on Saturday, on how US administration would persuade Pakistan to adhere to its new Afghan policy, Mattis said, “You begin by seeking their assistance.”
The CIA director said that Secretary Mattis, while travelling to Pakistan, will “make clear the president’s intent” and “will deliver the message that we would love you to do that. And that the safe haven inside of Pakistan has worked to the detriment of our capacity to do what we needed to do in Afghanistan”.
On November 30, Reuters carried a story that President Donald Trump was considering plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo within weeks. However, it was later denied by Washington officials.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]