Pak rejects Afghan NSA’s ‘double faced’ commitments against terror accusation

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has rejected Afghan national security advisor Rangin Dadfar Spanta’s remarks accusing Islamabad of playing a ‘double game’ by backing militant groups like the Taliban and Al-Qaeda while aligning with the coalition forces in the ‘war on terror’.

Spanta, in an article published in The Washington Post, had blamed Pakistan of playing a double-game of supporting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban even as it continues to ask for more help from the international community to weed out the terror menace, and urged the United States to re-evaluate its partnership with Islamabad.

A Pakistan foreign office spokesperson described Spanta’s statement as his personal views, and one which was not in consonance with a good relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“Dr. Spanta’s views are not in consonance with excellent Pakistan-Afghanistan counterterrorism cooperation. These were his personal views and were not in consonance with the excellent mutual understanding and cooperation that existed between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the ongoing fight against terrorism,” Xinhua quoted the spokesperson, as saying.

He added Islamabad would not be distracted by such ‘unfair’ remarks, and will continue working with Kabul and the international community to eliminate militancy and terrorism.

Spanta had said that the Obama administration’s decision to continue to align with Pakistan in the ‘war on terror’ has been a “strategic failure”.

“US-led troops are deployed with a mission to fight extremist groups, but the task “has been compounded by another strategic failure: the mistaken embrace of ’strategic partners’ who have, in fact, been nurturing terrorism,” Spanta wrote.

However, the US brushed aside Spanta’s remarks, saying that it believes that the extremist threat on both sides of the Afghan border could be dealt with effectively jointly.

Addressing a regular briefing here, assistant US secretary of state for public affairs, Philip Crowley, said the White House is satisfied with efforts that Pakistan has taken to counter the threat and would continue to support that country.

“We have encouraged Pakistan to take decisive action to deal with the threat within its borders. We are satisfied with the steps that Pakistan has taken thus far. And obviously, the offensive that Pakistan has started needs to continue,” Crowley said. (ANI)