Pakistan has taken important steps against militant groups post Pulwama: US

Pakistan has taken some “important” steps against groups post Pulwama attack but they are still reversible, a top US official said Wednesday.

Organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) andJaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) will continue to pose a grave risk to internationalpeace as long as they are able to operate freely in Pakistan, Alice G Wells,Senior State Department Official for South and Central Asian Affairs told HouseForeign Affairs Subcommittee for Asia, the Pacific and Nonproliferation.

   

“On the broader issue of counter-terrorism, the Pulwamaterrorist attack in February that sparked a crisis between India and Pakistanunderscored the importance and immediate need to halt terrorist activity in theregion,” she said in a prepared statement.

The sub-committee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee isscheduled to hold a hearing “US Interests in South Asia and the FY 2020 Budget”on Thursday.

“We continue to urge Pakistan’s leaders to make good ontheir pledges to take sustained and irreversible actions against terroristgroups operating within the country’s borders, which is necessary for thelong-term stability and prosperity of the region,” she said.

“In recent months, we have seen Pakistan detain somemilitants and seize assets belonging to front organisations raising funds forterrorist groups. While these steps are important, they are still reversible,”she told the lawmakers.

She asserting that Pakistan must sustain these measures andexpand upon them, including by prosecuting terrorist leaders.

“On a multilateral level, we succeeded on May 1 in listingJeM leader Masood Azhar at the UN 1267 Sanctions Committee – an achievement 10years in the making. His listing sends an important message that theinternational community will not tolerate terrorism,” she said.Wells said that US relationship with Pakistanremains one of its most complex and most consequential. 

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