US claims India not using Afghan soil against Pakistan: Wells

Observer Report

Islamabad

Declaring terrorists attacking Pakistan as its enemies, the United States on Wednesday said it does not have the ‘evidence’ suggesting that India is using the Afghan soil to perpetrate terrorism in Pakistan.
“I don’t have the evidence what you’re referring to, but our policy is clear that no country should support non-state actors,” a senior visiting State Department official said in response to a question while interacting with journalists here at the US Embassy.
Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs who was in Islamabad as part of delegation headed by US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, was asked about Pakistan’s longstanding allegations against India for sponsoring terrorism from Afghanistan.
The statement appears to suggest that the US is far from convinced with Pakistan’s narrative on India.
Pakistan has long been expressing its concerns regarding India using the Afghan soil to create trouble and often presented the case of Indian spy Kulbushan Yadhav as evidence.
The American diplomat, nevertheless, made it clear that US would never condone or support any use of ‘terrorist proxies against another country’.
“We have been working very actively with Pakistan to combat whether it’s al Qaeda or TTP. Any terrorist attacking Pakistan is enemy of ours and we share very strong counter-terrorism objectives in defeating extremist forces,” Wells emphasised.
When her attention was drawn towards Pakistan’s concerns regarding India’s role in creating trouble in Balochistan, she urged regional countries to respect each other’s sovereignty without naming India.
“We recognise and respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan. We do not support any separatist or irredentist movements,” she said, adding, “We think it’s critical that nations of this region respect one another and work to achieve peace and economic growth.”
Wells, who held a series of meetings with civil and military officials in Islamabad, also said the US had no information regarding Pakistan Army’s latest allegations that Afghan and Indian secret agencies were funding the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement.

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