The United States has listed Pakistan among those countries in the world that provide "safe havens" to terrorist organisations, a charge India has reiterated ad infinitum. The question that now arises is, will the US act tough on Pakistan and prompt action from it?
The US views on Pakistan, as listed in its annual "Country Reports on Terrorism," seem to be only vindication of what India has alleged so far. India, after all, has faced many a terrorist attack originating from Pakistan.
What escalated matters recently were transcripts intercepted by India that showed Pakistan was supplying chemical weapons to terrorists so they could carry out attacks in India with them.
US report
The Country Reports on Terrorism by the US State Department has indicted India's neighbour in no uncertain terms on its inaction on terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
It said: "The Pakistan government supported political reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban, but failed to take significant action to constrain the ability of the Afghan Taliban and HQN [Haqqani Network] to operate from Pakistan-based safe havens and threaten US and Afghan forces in Afghanistan."
The report also said: "The government did not take any significant action against LeT or JeM, other than implementing an ongoing ban against media coverage of their activities. LeT and JeM continued to hold rallies, raise money, recruit, and train in Pakistan."
The report also called out Pakistan on its stand on the Islamic State group, saying: "The Pakistan government has not joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, although it designated ISIS as a terrorist organisation in 2015."
What happens now?
Pakistan has long been accused of providing a safe haven for terrorist groups, not just by India but countries like Afghanistan as well.
In fact, some experts like Husain Haqqani have even gone on to suggest that a few terrorists groups receive support from the Pakistani military itself!
Despite all the evidence, not enough action has been taken by Pakistan to curb terrorist activity on its soil, and the US has also not put great pressure on the country because it views Pakistan as "an important counterterrorism partner."
However, with only mounting evidence against Pakistan, the US can now be expected to tighten its screws some more and prompt Pakistan to crack down at a satisfactory rate on terrorists.
