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Mike Pompeo meets Vijay Gokhale; Pakistan told to ‘act on terror camps’
India and the US on Monday called on Pakistan to take “concerted action” to dismantle terror infrastructure and deny safe haven to all terror groups, reflecting the growing pressure on Islamabad to crack down on terror after the Pulwama suicide bombing.
India and the US on Monday called on Pakistan to take “concerted action” to dismantle terror infrastructure and deny safe haven to all terror groups, reflecting the growing pressure on Islamabad to crack down on terror after the Pulwama suicide bombing.
Pressuring Pakistan to deliver on its counter-terrorism commitments and the move to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist figured in foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale’s meeting with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo, people familiar with the developments said.
This was also the first meeting between officials of the two sides since the Pulwama attack.
The meeting with Pompeo kicked off a routine visit by Gokhale for diplomatic consultations, which were in the pipeline much before a suicide bomber affiliated with the Pakistan-based JeM killed 40 Indian troopers in February and prompted a non-military counter-terror air strike by India on a JeM training camp in Pakistan.
Pompeo “expressed his understanding of India’s concerns regarding cross-border terrorism” and the two officials “agreed that Pakistan needs to take concerted action to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and to deny safe haven to all terrorist groups in its territory”, said a statement from the external affairs ministry.
“They also agreed that those who support or abet terrorism in any form should be held accountable,” the statement added.
Gokhale conveyed India’s appreciation for the “firm support...from the US in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Pulwama in the State of Jammu and Kashmir” and apprised Pompeo about recent developments in this regard.
Gokhale’s visit also provided India an opportunity to give a final push to efforts, led by France, the US and Britain, to list Azhar through the UN’s Islamic State and al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, the people quoted above said. The listing will go ahead on March 13 if it isn’t blocked by any member of the UN Security Council.
The US was the only major power to back India’s right to self-defence and the air strike on the JeM facility at Balakot in Pakistan, calling it “counter-terrorism actions”. It joined the UK and France to press the UN Security Council to pass a “path-breaking” statement condemning the Pulwama strike despite stiff resistance from China, acting on behalf of Pakistan.
The US, Britain, France and Afghanistan joined India to oppose an appeal by Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed to be removed from the UN Security Council’s list of designated terrorists. An ombudsman for the world body rejected Saeed’s petition last week.
Much of the attention has been focused on China, which has blocked several previous attempts to sanction Azhar on technical grounds and which has been non-committal on the latest move. India has reached out to China on the issue and also taken it up with the non-permanent members of the Security Council, the people said.
China might put a technical hold on the proposal for now, as it has before, to meet the 10-day proposed deadline to determine the fate of a proposal and vote later — “when the heat is off” — for Azhar to be designated, the people added.
With the completion of the counter-terrorism operation against Pakistan, New Delhi is working with interlocutors in the world community to pressure Islamabad to act against terrorists operating from its soil, the people said.
Gokhale will meet US under secretary of state for political affairs David Hale and under secretary of state for arms control and international security Andrea Thompson for bilateral foreign office consultations and a strategic security dialogue between March 11 and March 13.
“These are regular high-level dialogue mechanisms to review bilateral relations, exchange views on major foreign policy and security-related developments and coordinate respective positions on issues of common interest,” the external affairs ministry said in its statement.
Gokhale and Pompeo expressed satisfaction over significant progress and quality of the India-US Strategic Partnership since the US secretary of state’s visit to New Delhi last September for the first 2+2 Dialogue.
They also discussed other issues of mutual interest including Afghanistan and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, and agreed to closely work together in this regard.
In response to Pompeo’s reference to bilateral trade matters, Gokhale “underscored the significant reduction in trade deficit in the last three years and conveyed India’s willingness to remain engaged with the US for a meaningful and mutually acceptable package on trade issues”, the external affairs ministry statement said.
