Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan is saying right things and trying to make some changes in thecountry, but his military leadership too needs to take right decisions andright steps, the Trump Administration said hours after the UN
Security Councildesignated Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.
Nearly a year and halfafter President Donald Trump ordered cutting off security aid to Pakistan, asenior US administration official told reporters that the US is trying tochange Pakistan’s policy of supporting terrorist groups.
The official said the USdoes not want to get involved in the country’s internal politics and expectsthe Pakistan military to correct the situation.
“We support thecivilian government. We support the nascent democratic system there. We supportthe fact that Prime Minister Khan says right things and appears to be trying tomake some changes within Pakistan. But only time will tell if he is successfulin doing that,” he said.
The senior administrationofficial said Pakistan’s military leadership too needs to take right decisionsand right steps.
“So far, we do seesupport from the military to the direction that prime minister Khan seems to begoing in,” he said.
The Trump administrationWednesday credited Prime Minister Khan for his “helpful statements”on cracking down on terror outfits and some initial steps being taken.
“So, we do appreciatethat Pakistan is saying the right thing, has taken the initial step that we’relooking for, but we reserve judgment because we have seen backpacking in thepast,” the official said.
The official said the USwants to “reserve judgment” till it sees if the steps they are taking areactually irreversible.
Observing that only timewill tell about Pakistan’s future course of action, the US official said Khanas of now has made the right statement.
“He is very public aboutwanting stability in the region, pointing out how important that is forPakistanis to prosper and to have economic development which is one of his corecampaign promises. He has directly related that goal to Pakistan being able tocrack down on militancy within the border,” the official said.
But in the past, theofficial pointed out, the US has seen Pakistan resorting to the familiarpattern of taking some temporary steps against terrorists and putting themunder house arrest like they did with Hafeez Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi,only to release them later and let them go back to operating as usual.
“So, unfortunately, thetrack record (of Pakistan) is not good on this front. But we continue to remainhopeful and encouraged by the initial statements and some of the very initialsteps that we have seen Pakistan taking.”
Referring to the UN Wednesday designatingJaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar a “global terrorist”, theofficial added, “We think this designation is really critical andimportant for keeping Pakistan accountable to its commitment like the travelban and asset freezes and other steps.”They are now accountable to the international community. “It is tooearly to say whether Pakistan would indeed uphold its international obligation,but we remain hopeful,” he said.