US acknowledges Pak sacrifices in combating terrorism

Gen McMaster calls on Sartaj Aziz; renews Trump admin’s commitment to work closely with Pakistan to strengthen mutually-beneficial relations

ISLAMABAD: Recalling their close and decades-old friendship and strong partnership, the US and Pakistan Monday said this would remain critical to promoting and sustaining peace and stability, especially when Washington was committed to “strengthening mutually beneficial relations and towards the shared objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region”.

This commitment was announced in a meeting between Adviser on Foreign Policy Sartaj Aziz and the US National Security Adviser, Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster who arrived here on an unannounced visit from Kabul.

This was the first such high level visit by officials from the new Trump administration, though there was no joint statement at the conclusion of the visit in which McMaster also met with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, General McMaster acknowledged Pakistan’s sacrifices in combating extremism and terrorism. “He renewed the commitment of the new US administration to work closely with Pakistan in strengthening mutually beneficial relations and towards the shared objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region”, added the statement.

The US Embassy in its brief statement called the meetings part of “regional consultations” as “productive”, while expressing appreciation for Pakistan’s democratic and economic development, and stressed the need to confront terrorism in all its forms.  The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues”.

The delegation level talks at the Foreign Office were also attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi, National Security Adviser Lt-Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua and senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

General McMaster was assisted in the meeting by David Hale, US Ambassador, Laurel Miller, Acting US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan;, Senior Director for South Asia Lisa Curtis; and Director Pakistan Jay Wise in the National Security Council.

In a statement from Sartaj Aziz’s office, McMaster was informed about the various policies that were being pursued by the Sharif government which have led to improved security environment and economic turnaround in Pakistan.

McMaster’s visit to the region comes on the heels of some unprecedented bombings inside Afghanistan, where for the first time one of the largest non-nuclear bomb, labeled as the Mother of All Bombs took out nearly hundred alleged militants while also causing undisclosed collateral damage.

No mention was made in any of the official statements about some remarks that McMaster had made while in Kabul in which he had told the media there that, “as all of us have hoped for many years, we have hoped that Pakistani leaders will understand that it is in their interest to go after these groups less selectively than they have in the past and the best way to pursue their interest in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through diplomacy not through the use of proxies that engage in violence.”

Instead Sartaj Aziz elaborated that on terrorism “impressive gains” had been made in eliminating terrorists and the Sharif government was determined to continue this fight as part of the National Action Plan until terrorism was completely eliminated.

Aziz expressed his concern over the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, and reassured the American NSA that Pakistan was committed to working with the international community to support efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, and the importance of effective border management was part of the actions required to achieve sustainable peace in the region.