Washington (Web Desk): United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed his hope that Pakistan will achieve the goals ‘set-out’ by Trump administration.
While answering a question during a press briefing at the State Department on Tuesday, Pompeo reiterated the US demand that Islamabad will not provide safe havens to terrorists on the country’s western border. “I had a chance to travel and meet the new leader of Pakistan not too many weeks ago now,” he said.
He stressed that the US had made it clear that its policy for South Central Asia has not changed. “Our expectation is that Pakistan will not provide safe harbour to terrorists on their western border. Pakistan will be held accountable if they do not achieve that, if they are not sincere in that effort.”
The US secretary of state stressed that everyone wanted reconciliation in Afghanistan but “to achieve that goal, there can be no safe harbour for the Taliban or the Haqqani network”.
Pompeo further said that Pakistan’s government was aware of the United State’s view on the matter. “This administration has already made significant efforts to hold them accountable and we hope that they will achieve the goal that we have set out for them.”
The US secretary of state also welcomed the parliamentary elections in Afghanistan and said the US was ‘encouraged’ by the voter turnout despite reports of widespread problems including poll centers that failed to open or lacked voter rolls.