US should push for better Indo-Pak ties

WASHINGTON: US should push for a better Indo-Pak ties to reduce some of the long-standing enmity and mistrust between the two countries, a top Pentagon official has said.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said that as neighbours, it was in both India and Pakistan's interests to reduce the tension between them and strengthen their political, security, and economic ties.

"In terms of our broader engagement with Pakistan and the region, reducing some of the long-standing enmity and mistrust between India and Pakistan would greatly contribute to our efforts," Mullen said in his testimony before the House Armed Services Committee yesterday.

"While we acknowledge the sovereign right of India and Pakistan to pursue their own foreign policies, we must demonstrate our desire for continued and long-term partnership with each, and offer our help to improve confidence and understanding between them in a manner that builds long-term stability across the wider region of South Asia," Mullen said.

Mullen said as a result of its cooperations with its Coalition partners, al-Qaeda's senior leadership in Pakistan is weaker and under greater pressure than at any other time since being forced out of Afghanistan in late 2001.

"They have suffered the losses of numerous senior leaders and face significant challenges to coordinating operations, maintaining safe havens, and acquiring funding. Despite this operational progress, al-Qaeda retains the intent and capability to attack the United States and other Western countries," he said.

The group's leaders continue to operate in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, planning operations and guiding the efforts of al-Qaeda networks operating out of the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, and even Europe, he said.

"We, in turn, remain committed to our deepening and broadening partnerships in the region and to our goal of ultimately defeating al-Qaeda and creating the conditions to prevent their return to Afghanistan and Pakistan," Mullen said.

Though America's operational efforts are focused on Afghanistan, its diplomatic efforts have increasingly focused on Pakistan, a country critical to US strategy in the region.

"We must overcome years of mistrust and continue to lay the foundation for a true partnership with Pakistan," he said.