Smita Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 5
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo hopes to “reset relations” with Pakistan and find common ground with the Imran Khan-led new government.
Pompeo, who will hold discussions in Isalamabad on Wednesday, enroute to Delhi, with his counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi and meet Pak Army Chief General Bajwa as well as PM Khan, made these remarks to the accompanying press pool.
“Our teams have been working together for a long time. There are lots of challenges between our two nations for sure, but we’re hopeful that with new leadership we can find common ground and begin to work on some of our shared problems together,” said Pompeo.
Pompeo is accompanied by his top military commander and Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dunford for stocktaking on Trump’s Af-Pak strategy which has chalked out a larger role for India to play in the region, much to the disapproval of the military headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Just ahead of this visit, the US signed on suspension of 300 million USD worth of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) for Pakistan leading to much anger in its non-NATO frontline ally. However, Pompeo sought to dismiss the suggestion that this row would overshadow his current Pak visit.
“It made a lot of headlines over the last few days because of the formality, but they were told this past summer that they weren’t likely to get that money. And the rationale for them not getting the money is very clear. It’s that we haven’t seen the progress that we need to see from them. And the very reason for this trip is to try and articulate what our expectation is, the things that they can do, the things that they expect us to do, and see if we can find a path forward together,” he said.
Pompeo acknowledged that the souring of ties with Pakistan took place with the previous governments in place and hoped they could now “turn the page and begin to make progress”.
“But there are real expectations. We need Pakistan to seriously engage to help us get to the reconciliation we need in Afghanistan. Without their assistance, without their help, you’ve heard General Nicholson and General Miller both– the incoming and outgoing commanders–they’ve both talked about this. They have security interests in Afghanistan to make sure they get the issues at their border right, and we need their help,” he added.
Sources in India on Tuesday told The Tribune that a “direct perspective” on messages conveyed to Pakistan on action against terror groups and reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan is expected when Pompeo and US Defence Secretary Mattis hold discussions with their counterparts in Delhi at the inaugural 2+2 dialogue on Thursday.
President Trump who has expressed his frustration openly at the Pak duplicity on terror has so far with Congressional approval suspended 800 million USD worth of aid money towards Pakistan. Pakistan has argued that this is not aid money but money owed to it for partnering with the US-led war in Afghanistan. Pompeo underlined that this money would not be back on the table soon. “We certainly haven’t seen the progress that we would hope to have seen, certainly not the progress that would be sufficient for us to have advocated for turning back on those–that financial support,” said the Secretary of State.
Zalmay Khalilzad returns as US advisor on Afghanistan
The United States has announced that its former Ambassador to Afghanistan and an old regional hand Zalmay Khalilzad will be back in the State Department.
In his new innings, Khalilzad will be an advisor to the Trump administration on matters related to Afghanistan. Khalilzad incidentally is accompanying the top minister for his Pakistan and India visits.
Confirming the move, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said, “Ambassador Khalilzad is going to join the State Department team to assist us on the reconciliation effort, so he will come on and be the State Department’s lead person for that purpose.”
Khalilzad, a Pashtun, has worked with four US administrations in the past. He worked closely with the Bush administration in formulating the Afghanistan invasion plan to defeat the Al Qaeda after the 9/11 attacks that also led to the ousting of the Taliban that was in command then.
“But his task is going to be working with Ambassador Wells and Ambassador Bass and our team to be fully focused on developing the opportunities to get the Afghans and Taliban to come to a reconciliation. That will be his singular mission statement,” added Pompeo when asked about Khalilzad’s mission directive.
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