The US on Monday said that it has made clear to Pakistan that it should not discriminate among terrorist groups while conducting counter-terrorism operations in the wake of recent terror attacks on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot and the Indian consulate in Afghanistan.
"The government of Pakistan has spoken very powerfully to this and it's certainly our expectation that they'll treat this exactly the way they've said they would," said State Department Spokesman John Kirby.
Pakistan said that it is following the leads provided by India on the militants who attacked the Pathankot Air Force base early on Saturday.
The US on Monday expressed that it wanted India and Pakistan to continue dialogue as terrorism is a "shared challenge" in South Asia, adding that it wanted the two countries "to remain steadfast in their commitment to a more secure and prosperous future for both their countries and for the region."
"And we in the United States want everybody to treat it as a shared challenge...We're mindful that there remain some safe havens that we obviously want to see cleared out. And we continue to engage with the Government of Pakistan to that end," PTI quoted Kirby as saying.
The Pathankot Air Force base was attacked by a group of militants on Saturday, leading to a 70- hour plus operation. The operation is still underway even as the military sanitises the area. The 1,500 families, aircrafts, helicopters and military hardware have been secured. Five militants have been confirmed dead, while the body of the sixth is yet to be found.
Meanwhile, a group of four militants opened fire at the Indian consulate in Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif city on Sunday night. The Afghan Army took down the militants on Monday night after a 25-hour operation.
The two attacks are being viewed as a way to derail resumed dialogue between India and Pakistan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a "suprise" visit to Pakistan on 25 December -- Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's birthday.
