ISLAMABAD: US Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale has asked Pakistan for a ‘decisive action’ against all terrorist groups allegedly operating from its soil. Addressing the fourth meeting of Pak-US Track II Dialogue on Monday, the US ambassador said, “Our South Asia strategy looks to Pakistan for decisive action against all terrorist groups operating from its soil.” “We ask for equal diligence in decimating all the groups operating in Pakistan which threaten the region’s stability, including the Haqqani network,” David Hale said. He said that the Pakistani leadership had assured to speed up its efforts for regaining peace in Afghanistan, adding that the US had also encouraged India to improve Pak-India relations. The United States has also demanded India for more economic support in Afghanistan. “The US secretary encouraged India to do more to support Afghanistan economically, and encouraged both India and Pakistan to resume dialogue and reduce tensions.” Meanwhile, Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Faisal said on Monday that Pakistan remained committed to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, the spokesperson said that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was an international body that sets standards relating to combating money laundering and terrorist financing. “The FATF reviews measures taken by all states on an ongoing basis for implementing those standards,” he said. He was responding to a question regarding the recently held meeting of the FATF in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Pakistan successfully completed the action plan on the implementation of the FATF standards in February 2015. At the Buenos Aires meeting of FATF, the proceedings in the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of FATF appreciated the continued progress made by Pakistan in implementing FATF standards.
Published in Daily Times, November 7th 2017.
