Pakistan has been the biggest victim of international terrorism and curbing militancy is in the South Asian country's own interest, a senior American official said while also noting that a stable Pakistan is in the interests of both the United States and India.
Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, told a briefing that during his recent visit to India, President Barack Obama highlighted that Washington and New Delhi had shared interest in reducing Pakistan-India tensions. "I think the President (Obama) was very clear that Pakistan itself has been the chief victim of international terrorism. And so it's very much in its own interest to crack down on these groups, which increasingly are operating as a syndicate and it's very difficult to really distinguish between them," he said.
On the foreign policy side, he said "an important focus was Pakistan" during Obama's visit. "The president (Obama) welcomed dialogue between India and Pakistan and highlighted our shared interest in reducing tensions between India and Pakistan, and in a stable and more prosperous Pakistan," Blake said at the Foreign Press Centre.
The diplomat noted that "the president, over the course of his three days, talked at great length about the importance of Pakistan, about the shared interests that the United States and India have in a stable and prosperous Pakistan, but also of the need for Pakistan to take concrete steps to address the terrorism that is emanating from its soil and to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice as quickly as possible."
Blake, in response to a question, said the United States has welcomed the steps that Islamabad had taken thus far in, for example, the Swat Valley and South Waziristan, but wants to see progress in places like North Waziristan and against groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba.
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