'Afghan people will not accept a governing structure that excludes women and minorities'
America's relationship with Pakistan has 'not served' either of the two countries, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday raising questions on the Biden administration's approval of a $450-million sustenance package for F-16 fleet.
Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, a top Afghan Taliban leader who backed the peace process and a former aviation minister in the pre-2001 Taliban regime, has been appointed as the new chief of the insurgent group, as Taliban confirmed the death of its longtime supremo Mullah Omar.
Mullah Akhtar, a close aide of Mullah Omar who served as his deputy for the past three years, was chosen as the new leader.
"Our expectations are straight forward: Taliban and Haqqani leadership and attack planners should no longer be able to find safe haven or conduct operations from Pakistani soil," Pentagon Press Secretary Army Col Rob Manning told reporters during an off-camera news conference.
The conditions are related to Pakistan's support to terrorists and terror outfits.
In a blunt message, the United States has asked Pakistan to intensify efforts to counter terrorist sanctuaries inside its borders and take concrete steps against the dreaded Haqqani network responsible for major attacks on American installations in Afghanistan.
Zawahri's long balcony visits gave the CIA an opportunity for a clear missile shot that could avoid collateral damage.
US Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Pakistan addressed the issue of terrorism and also called on both - India and Pakistan to find a diplomatic solution to the violence at the border issue.
United States President Barack Obama has signed into law the $618 billion defence budget for 2017, which enhances security cooperation with India and conditions nearly half of the funding to Pakistan on a certification that it is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.
ISI chief Faiz Hameed coerced the Taliban to announce an interim government guaranteed to preserve Pakistan's control over the levers of power in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Modi regretted that the international response to terrorism was weak and said more cooperation was needed to fight the menace.
Brushing aside Islamabad's rebuttal, United States has fired fresh salvos charging Pakistan's military-run Inter Services Intelligence of not only supporting the Haqqani terror network but also 'encouraging' it to launch more brazen strikes on American installations in Afghanistan.
"They support terror operations in India with terrorist organisations. They support the Haqqani network and the Taliban in conducting operations against the United States and NATO and Afghanistan. They've got blood all over their hands with the casualties," General (Retd) Jack Keane said.
In a blunt message to Pakistan, the United States has said that continued existence of terror safe havens in the country and its inability to take action against them affects their bilateral ties including security assistance.
Poe alleged that Taliban is still based in Pakistan and it came as no surprise when a US drone strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Mansoor.
Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund is appointed as Prime Minister with two deputies Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Molavi Abdul Salam Hanafi.
The Inter-Services Intelligence does not act independently and takes instructions from Pakistani army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, says a former top aide of United States President Barack Obama, asserting that the spy agency has links with the dreaded Haqqani network of Taliban.
The US also termed the release of Mumbai-terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed as "a step backward" in that direction.
"Indeed, nearly all of the jihadi groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, LeT, and others have joined together in an extended terrorist network that shares the same goals, including destabilising Afghanistan and destroying the Pakistani state," said Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
The Pakistan government has, however, put the JuD on the list of groups being closely watched by the officials.
A Congressional Committee in its budgetary proposals for the year 2013 has prohibited economic and security assistance to Pakistan till it co-operates with the United States in the fight against terrorism and takes action against groups such as Haqqani Network, Taliban, Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
"I don't think that we have seen any evidence of efforts by India to directly undermine Pakistani national security. This is something that the Pakistanis fear but I don't think that we should let US policy be driven by Pakistani fear," Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation said in response to questions from lawmakers who raised Pakistani concerns in this regard.
Pakistan's powerful spy agency Inter Services Intelligence regards the United States as its "worst enemy" and Islamabad's claim that it is cooperating with Washington is a sham to extract billions of dollars in aid, jailed Pakistani doctor Shakeel Afridi who helped the CIA trace Osama bin Laden has said.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has welcomed the Pakistan government's offer for peace talks with all insurgent groups. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani had said recently that his administration was ready to hold negotiations with all militant groups, including the Haqqani network.
Karzai will hold comprehensive talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after which the two countries are expected to ink a strategic pact to streamline the various assistance programmes of India and institutionalise bilateral security dialogue.
The Pentagon on Tuesday said it had shared with Pakistan in recent years the indications of Islamabad's "complicity" with extremist groups, renewing top United States commander Admiral Mike Mullen's allegations that Inter-Services Intelligence was conniving with the Haqqani network in Afghanistan.
Apparently Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan's youngest and first female foreign minister, has had it with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen's incessant indictments of Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence.
Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the United States joint chiefs of staff, just days before his retirement, has made yet another scathing indictment of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence's perfidy. The spy agency maintains proxies like the Haqqani network for its own strategic depth in Afghanistan, he said.
Possibility of yet another Mumbai-style attack in India cannot be ruled out and such a threat will arise if the Taliban or Haqqani network succeed in seizing large parts of Southern Afghanistan, a veteran Indian diplomat has said.
Unless Pakistan's military leaders awaken to the dangers that lie ahead from the Islamist extremist threat, it may eventually overwhelm the Pakistani state, warns Lisa Curtis
Two top United States lawmakers have called for "aggressive steps" by America to disrupt operations of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network, saying that Al Qaeda group was responsible for recent surge in attacks in Afghanistan.
India may seek US' help for extradition of Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind of 1993 Mumbai blasts, as they vowed to make "joint and concerted efforts" to dismantle safe havens for terror and criminal networks like Lashkar-e-Tayiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, D-company, Al-Qaeda and Haqqani network.
At least 16 militants, including some foreign fighters, were killed when the United States drones targeted the compound of a militant commander believed to have links with the Haqqani network and the Al Qaeda in northwest Pakistan on Thursday.
The unclassified five-page overview of the Afghanistan-Pakistan annual policy update unveiled by United States President Barack Obama on Thursday tends to sugar-coat the situation in the region.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in the Pakistani capital on Thursday for talks aimed at pressing the country's leadership to crack down on the Haqqani network to facilitate the process of reconciliation in neighbouring Afghanistan.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan militants have found sanctuary in Afghanistan's eastern provinces, which are under the Haqqani network's control, reports B Raman
With the United States and Pakistan engaged in a war of words, China on Friday sprung to the defence of its 'all weather ally', asking Washington to respect Islamabad's sovereignty and territorial integrity while fighting its war on terror.
US troops after 10 years in Afghanistan are in the same position as the Soviet troops after eight years were in 1987 --victory increasingly elusive, says B Raman.
Aziz said that Pakistan-US relations had come to a standstill in 2011 because of incidents of WikiLeaks, Raymond Davis, Abbottabad operation, Datta Khel and Salala.
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