NEW DELHI – Pakistan is not helping enough with resolving issues related tocross-border terrorism and the problems faced by its neighbour Afghanistan,said former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the *India Today *link>Conclave2018.
Responding to a question by Editor-in-Chief of *India Today* Group AroonPurie on the crisis surrounding Afghanistan, Hillary said that the countryhas been under pressure from all sides.
The former first lady of United States said that Afghanistan is presentlyfacing the continuance of Taliban regime and more worrisome presence of theIslamic State.
When asked if America is ever going to win the great battle in Afghanistan,Hillary said that it was an ongoing disappointment because the country hasnot been able to attain the level of stability that it was seeking.
Speaking about the president of Afghanistan, Hillary said that she knewPresident Ashraf Ghani for a long time and that she was aware of hisefforts for the betterment of the nation.
She said that Ghani was instrumental in putting pillars under the Afghansociety when it came to education, employment and giving people a differentunderstanding to make Afghanistan a more successful nation.
While talking about Pakistan, Hillary recollected her time during theoperation to eliminate dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden, the founder of alQaeda in May 2011.
The former US secretary of state said that she was present in the situationroom advising then president Barack Obama on the raid against Laden. Shesaid that it was a tough decision because the intelligence was 40-60 percent.
Hillary said that the US was aware of the fact that the move would cause alot of negativity in Pakistan. She added that despite the odds, they had tomake the move nonetheless.
She said that she had recommended the president to launch the raid whileothers had a different opinion. The President however eventually greensignaled the raid.
Further talking about Pakistan’s role, Hillary said that the US neveractually got much from the country in terms of cooperation to help orsupport.
When asked if there was anything that the US could do to control thecross-border terrorism along the Line of Control on the border, Hillarysaid that US had tried a variety of ways to address it. She said thatAmerica even had international troops along the India-Pakistan border.
Hillary said that she had constant conversations with President Obama whenasked about her interaction with the White House about cross-borderterrorism.
Hillary, when posed with a question on Pakistan’s cooperation said that itwas never a negative story, and that Pakistan had assisted US inidentifying terrorists, arresting them and taking action against them.
She said, however, that Pakistan’s cooperation not relevant in terms ofresolving the issue in the long run.