New Delhi (Web Desk): A strongly worded bill introduced by an influential US Congressman yesterday, in Congress to declare "untrustworthy ally" Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism.
Congressman Ted Poe, who is Chair of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism said, "Not only is Pakistan an untrustworthy ally, Islamabad has also aided and abetted enemies of the United States for years".
In Congress yesterday, while introducing the bill, the Pakistan State Sponsor of Terrorism Act of 2015, Poe said, "From harboring Osama bin Laden to its cozy relationship with the Haqqani network, there is more than enough evidence to determine whose side Pakistan is on in the War on Terror. And it's not America's. It is time we stop paying Pakistan for its betrayal and designate it for what it is: a State Sponsor of Terrorism".
US President is demanded in the bill to issue a report within 90 days, answering whether Pakistan has provided support for international terrorism. In response to the bill after thirty days, the Secretary of State is required to submit a follow-up report, which says that Pakistan is a state sponsor of terrorism, or a detailed justification as to why it does not meet the legal criteria for such a designation.
It's time for a "radical reset" with Pakistan, said Congressman Poe and James Clad, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia, in an article in Nationalinterest.org dated March 8. They say the US is in "a toxic relationship" with Pakistan and needs to "to finally set limits on its indulgence" towards Islamabad. The authors of the article are scathing about the US-Pakistan relationship. They describe it as a "weird psychology" at play.