Pak beginning to believe supporting terrorism can pose existential threat to it: US

WASHINGTON - Acknowledging ‘Pakistan’s support for terrorists in the past,’ the United States has said that it believes the country has now changed its view in this regard.

“We have worked diligently with the Pakistan government. We have seen a shift in the Pakistani thinking,” the Daily Times quoted Philip J Crowley, State Department Spokesman, as saying.

“Pakistan’s support for terrorists in the past is fairly well understood, but we believe that Pakistan has changed its view and recognises that terrorists within its borders now represent an existential threat to Pakistan itself and to the civilian government in Pakistan,” he added.

Crowley also reaffirmed the US’ close engagement with the democratically elected Pakistani government.

“We are engaged deeply with the current civilian government. We are working hard with this government to address the immediate aftermath of the flooding and the ongoing security challenge that affects Pakistan and the US,” he stated.

He also informed that the US and Pakistan would have the next round of their strategic dialogue in a couple of weeks, and security would be a significant area of discussion during the talks.

Commenting on the Kashmir issue, Crowley said it was a “bilateral issue” between India and Pakistan, and the US hoped “that the two sides can address and resolve” the lingering conflict.

“This is an issue between Pakistan and India, which is very important… There have been successful discussions between Pakistan and India on this subject in recent years,” he said.

“Some of those discussions - very fruitful discussions - occurred between the former governments of India and Pakistan. This is an issue that we hope that the two sides can address and resolve, but this is obviously an important bilateral issue between the two governments,” he added. (ANI)