Washington: The US needs to have a relationship with both India and Pakistan because of the latter's military’s role in countering the threat from Islamic State-Khorasan Province, a top American general has said in remarks that are unlikely to go down well in New Delhi.
The US Central Command chief, General Michael Kurilla, described Pakistan as a “phenomenal partner” in counter-terrorism during a hearing by the House Armed Services Committee. His remarks come at a time when India has intensified its efforts to highlight Pakistan’s support for cross-border terrorism in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in April.
During his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Kurilla, who is set to retire this summer, highlighted the role of the Pakistani military and army chief, Asim Munir, in combating ISIS-Khorasan, another name for IS-KP.
“That’s why we need…to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can’t have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India,” Kurilla said while answering questions from members of the panel. “We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has,” he said.
The US Central Command, based in Florida, has an area of responsibility that covers 21 countries in West, Central and South Asia, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The Hawaii-based US Indo-Pacific Command is responsible for military relations with India.
Kurilla noted that ISIS-K, based in Afghanistan, is one of the most active terrorist groups involved in “external plots globally”, including against the US homeland. The Afghan Taliban have gone after the ISIS-K and pushed many of the group’s fighters into tribal areas on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, he said.
Jaishankar warns West on terrorismExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has urged the global community to understand that the recent confrontation between India and Pakistan was not just a conflict between two neighbors, but it was about combating terrorism, which, he said, will eventually come back to haunt the West. In an interview with European news site Euractive, Jaishankar said: "Let me remind you of something – there was a man named Osama bin Laden. Why did he, of all people, feel safe living for years in a Pakistani military town, right next to their equivalent of West Point?" he said. "I want the world to understand - this isn't merely an India-Pakistan issue. It's about terrorism. And that very same terrorism will eventually come back to haunt you," Jaishankar, who is travelling to Europe a month after India launched Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam attack, told Euractiv. |
