WASHINGTON, October 4: U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis while threatening Pakistan said Trump administration will take stern action if Pakistan fails to curb militants and terrorists groups.
While addressing at a House Armed Services Committee hearing U.S. Defense Secretary said “We need to try one more time to make this strategy work with them, by, with and through the Pakistanis, and if our best efforts fail, the President Donald Trump is prepared to take whatever steps are necessary,”
Mattis added that he would be traveling to Islamabad soon, but did not give more details.
Trump administration responses being discussed include expanding U.S. drone strikes and perhaps eventually downgrading Pakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally, reported international news agency.
When asked by a lawmaker whether revoking Pakistan’s major non-NATO ally status was amongst the options being considered to deal with Islamabad, Mattis said: “I am sure it will be.”
In a separate Senate hearing on Tuesday, the top U.S. military officer said he believed Pakistan’s main spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, had ties to militant groups.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford told the Senate Armed Services Committee “he is clear that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups,”.
The Pakistan embassy in Washington said Islamabad had achieved success in counter-terrorism operations in its country.
“However, unless the same level of success is achieved in (Afghanistan), long lasting peace in the region will remain out of reach,” the embassy said in a statement.
The United States in 2012 designated the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organization. The year before, U.S. Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, then the top U.S. military officer, caused a stir when he told Congress that the Haqqani network was a “veritable arm” of the ISI directorate.
It is vital to mention here that United States has sent about 3,500 additional troops to Afghanistan.
In line with an estimate current cost for the United States in Afghanistan is about $12.5 billion a year, and the new strategy would cost an additional $1.1 billion-Online
