*NEW DELHI* – As expected the US Secretary of State Mike Pomepo has changedtone against Pakistan after arrival in India.
The United States (US) Secretary of State echoed India’s reservationsregarding the alleged use of “terrorist proxies” by Pakistan in the region.
It called upon Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used “to launchterrorist attacks on other countries”.
The statement was made during the Inaugural India-US 2+2 MinisterialDialogue, a day after US State Secretary Mike Pompeo and Joint ChiefsMarine Corps Chairman General Joseph Dunford’s visit to Pakistan where bothsides had agreed to reset the strained relations between the two countries.
Besides, the US had also conveyed the need for Islamabad to take “sustainedand decisive measures” against suspected terrorist havens in the country —a long-standing mantra of the US.
In a joint statement issued after the ministerial dialogue attended byIndia’s Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of DefenceNirmala Sitharaman and Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence JamesMattis, both countries urged Pakistan to “bring the perpetrators of theMumbai, Pathankot, Uri, and other [alleged] cross-border terrorist attacks”to justice.
Moreover, the participants of the dialogue welcomed the “launch of abilateral dialogue on designation of terrorists in 2017, which isstrengthening cooperation and action against terrorist groups, including alQaeda, Islamic State (IS), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),Hizb-ul Mujahideen (HuM), the Haqqani Network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan(TTP), D-Company, and their affiliates”.
Welcoming the expansion of bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation, the“two sides announced their intent to increase information-sharing effortson known or suspected terrorists and to implement UN Security CouncilResolution 2396 on returning foreign terrorist fighters”.