WASHINGTON, Dec 11: Pakistan has signalled its readiness to deal with
terrorists operating within its borders as well as with those who cross
over to Afghanistan, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday.
The
statement followed a clarification by officials of the Defence and
State Departments of a Pentagon report that tended to create an
impression that Pakistan was still allowing terrorist safe havens in
Fata to operate.
The officials said the report was old and since
then Pakistan had carried out several `complementary operations` with
Afghan and Nato forces against the terrorists.
`We are more
encouraged with the fact that they want to take steps to try to limit
the terrorist threat within their own country and obviously the threat
that goes across the border` to Afghanistan, Mr Panetta told reporters
travelling with him to Kuwait.He said that army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez
Kayani had `indicated a willingness to try to put more pressure on safe
havens` While `actions have to speak louder than words, I do believe
they`re in a better place because they understand the kind of threats
they should deal with,` Mr Panetta added.
A Pentagon report,
released to the media on Monday but sent to Congress three months ago,
had alleged that terrorist safe havens in Fata were preventing US and
allied forces from dealing a `decisive defeat` to militants inside
Afghanistan.
`The Taliban-led insurgency and its Al Qaeda
affiliates still operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan,` the report
claimed. `The insurgency`s safe havens in Pakistan, the limited
institutional capacity of the Afghan government and endemic corruption
remain the greatest risks tolong-term stability and sustainable security
in Afghanistan.
The Pakistan Embassy in Washington drew the
Pentagon`s attention to the report, widely publicised by the media,
pointing out that it did not reflect the improvements that have occurred
since July this year.
In July, the United States had apologised
to Pakistan over an air raid that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year
and Islamabad reopened the supply routes to Afghanistan it had closed
after the attack.
Since then the two countries have taken a
number of steps to improve ties and this month they held a series of
working group meetings to restart the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue
after more than a year.
Secretary Panetta also acknowledged that
Pakistan was helping Afghanistan in talking to the Taliban for seeking a
peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict.
But reconciliation with the Taliban, he said, was not easy because of the number of factions involved in the conflict.
`We
have to at least make the effort to develop some kind of political
solution as well as the military effort we are engaged in.
PENTAGON
REPORT CLARIFIED: At the Pentagon, two senior Defence and State
Department officialsbriefed the media on the report sent to Congress,
explaining that relations with Pakistan had improved considerably since
the reporting period.
The report was apparently prepared before July, when the two countries took several significant steps to improve ties.
`We`re
very encouraged by the dialogue that`s taking place between Afghanistan
and Pakistan. And an important and essential part of that dialogue is
the cross-border situation,` said a senior State Department official.
`So
we hope that dialogue will continue. We hope and expect to see
confidencebuilding measures from both the Afghans, and the Pakistanis.
The
United States wants to encourage that dialogue is in the interest of
peace and stability `to the extent that can be helpful`, he said.
`Cooperation with Pakistan has improved during this reporting period.
Pakistan
agreed to reopen the ground lines of communication, which were closed
in November of last year, observed a senior Defence Department official.
Meetings
with Pakistan, both bilaterally between ISAF forces, and Pakistani
military forces, and trilaterally with Afghan military forces, were also
going well, he added.
The official noted that NATO forces were
now conducting `a growing number of complementary operations` with
Pakistan, which in the last reporting had virtually ceased.
`At
the same time, I don`t want to leave you with the impression that we
think everything is working well, because the safe havens do continue to
exist,` the official warned.