Redouble efforts against terrorists in your country: US defence secy to Pak

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Monday met Pakistan’s civilian and military leaders and urged them “redouble” their efforts to rein in militants accused of using the country as a base to carry out attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Mattis, on a one-day visit to Pakistan, said the South Asian nation had made progress in the fight against militancy inside its borders but needed to make more.

More than 100 days since President Donald Trump announced a South Asia strategy that calls for a firmer line towards Islamabad, US officials and analysts say there has been only limited success and it is not clear how progress will be made.

US officials have long been frustrated by what they see as Pakistan’s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks in Afghanistan.

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Eradicate terrorists: Rex Tillerson's strong message to Pakistan

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday told Pakistan that it must increase its efforts to eradicate militants and terrorists operating within the country.

Tillerson, who was in Islamabad for a few hours on his inaugural trip to Pakistan as Secretary of State, met with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, and discussed the continued bilateral cooperation and partnership, expanding economic ties between the United States and Pakistan, and Pakistan's critical role in the region, said a US Embassy press release.

The top US official reiterated President Donald Trump's message that Pakistan must increase its efforts to eradicate militants and terrorists operating within the country.

To address those concerns, the Secretary outlined the United States' new South Asia Strategy and the vital role that Pakistan can play in working with the United States and others to facilitate a peace process in Afghanistan that can bring stability and security to the region. The Secretary noted that Pakistan and the United States share common interests in establishing a stable, peaceful Afghanistan, defeating ISIS in South Asia, and eliminating terrorist groups that threaten both Pakistan and the United States.
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As Rex Tillerson heads to Pak, Islamabad wary of deepening India-US ties

Nuclear-armed Pakistan, a staunch US  Cold War ally and key player in the US -backed invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, has watched warily as Washington has in recent years pivoted towards its arch-foe.

Islamabad views its much-bigger neighbour as an existential threat and the two nations have fought three wars since their violent separation at the end of colonial rule in 1947.

Tillerson, due to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Pakistan’s powerful military chiefs in a one-day visit, is expected to urge Pakistan to do more to root out Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network militants operating on its soil.

But he is also expected to hear Pakistani officials warn him that drawing nuclear-armed India deeper into Afghanistan would destabilise the region and do little to end the 16-year war that is now America’s longest military conflict.

“Bringing India into the mix is like adding kerosene to fire,” said Miftah Ismail, a state minister and close ally of Prime Minister Abbasi.

“It’s a complete red line. India has no political role to play in Afghanistan as far as we are concerned.”
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China rejects US criticism of OBOR, doesn't waver on Kashmir issue

Claiming UN support for its controversial One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, China on Friday rejected US criticism saying the project has not changed its stand that the Kashmir issue should be resolved by India and Pakistan bilaterally.

"We have repeatedly reiterated that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is an economic cooperation initiative that is not directed against third parties and has nothing to do with territorial sovereignty disputes and does not affect China's principled stance on the Kashmir issue," the Chinese Foreign Ministry told PTI here.

The ministry was responding to comments by US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis that the Belt and Road Initiative "also goes through disputed territory, and I think, that in itself shows the vulnerability of trying to establish that sort of a dictate".

In a globalised world, there are many belts and many roads, and no one nation should put itself into a position of dictating 'One Belt, One Road', Mattis told a Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on October 4.

Mattis' comments were widely interpreted as the US backing India's stand on OBOR especially related to the $50 billion CPEC which is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). India has protested to China in this regard.
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