Need Both Pakistan And India, Islamabad "A Phenomenal Partner": Top US General
New Delhi:
A top US General, in a statement under oath, has stressed that Washington needs to have a strong relationship with both New Delhi and Islamabad/Rawalpindi, suggesting that the equation cannot be binary in nature. He added that the United States absolutely needs Pakistan as a partner in the region for America's fight against terrorism.
The remarks were made by General Michael Kurilla, head of the US Central Command, during a hearing at the House Armed Services Committee. The General praised Pakistan for its "counter-terror efforts" and helping the United States achieve its objectives in the region.
Describing Pakistan as a "phenomenal partner", the top US General mentioned how it is in an "active counter-terrorism fight" against the ISIS-Khorasan with the limited intelligence provided by Washington.
"ISIS Khorasan is perhaps one of the most active in trying to carry out external plots globally, which include against the homeland. Right now, what we saw is the Taliban going after the ISIS-K. They hate each other. They pushed a lot of them into the tribal areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border," General Kurilla said.
"Through a phenomenal partnership we have with Pakistan, they have gone after ISIS-Khorasan, killing dozens of them. Through a relationship that we have with Pakistan, we provide them intelligence, and so far they have captured at least 5 ISIS-Khorasan high value individuals. They extradited Jaffar, who was one of the key individuals behind the Abbeygate bombing and the first person who called - Chief of the Army Staff Munir - was me," he added.
He went on to say that Field Marshal Munir told him, "I have caught him (Jaffar) and we are going to extradite him back to the United States. Please tell the Secretary of Defence and the President. So, we are seeing Pakistan, with the limited intelligence that we have provided them, go after ISIS using their means to do that - and we are seeing the effect it has had on ISIS-Khorasan."
The top General then explained to the House committee how ISIS-K has been going back and forth at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and have been active in that region. Explaining the role being played by the Pakistani army, he said, "I will honestly tell you that since the beginning of 2024, Pakistan had over a thousand terrorist attacks in the Western area, killing about 700 security personnel and civilians, and leaving more than 2,500 wounded. They (Pakistan) are in an active counter-terrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world."
General Kurilla told the panel that ISIS-K has gotten hit "very, very hard" in the last few months and are at a low-point right now, but continue to remain active.
Just as the panel was about to move to the next question, General Kurilla said he would like to add something to what he said. He then suggested that "We (United States) need to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it to be a binary switch that we can't have one with Pakistan, if we have a relationship with India. We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has."
The top US military general's remarks have sent a clear signal to New Delhi, that Washington will continue to keep Pakistan as an ally while pursuing its geopolitical interests, and that India's fight against terror emanating from Pakistan is its own battle. The statement also makes it clear that India must not have the expectation that the United States will choose its strategic partnership with New Delhi over its ties with Islamabad.
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