No proof India is using Afghan soil against Pakistan, says Alice Wells

[Hitman]

–US diplomat says Washington has no information regarding alleged funding of PTM by NDS and RAW

–Says Washington is not opposed to infrastructure investment by China as long as it is ‘ transparent, sustainable’

Pakistan and the United States have agreed to continue the engagement on the Afghan peace process and strengthening bilateral ties, however Washington is seemingly unconvinced with Pakistan’s narrative that India is using Afghan soil to perpetrate terrorism in the country.

The understanding was reached during an important meeting wherein Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, US Secretary of State’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation and Ambassador Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, held delegation-level talks with Pakistani officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs a day earlier.

As per a handout issued by the Foreign Ministry, the two sides reviewed recent developments regarding the Afghan peace process. It was underlined that this was a historic opportunity to end the prolonged Afghan conflict for which all local stakeholders, as well as Afghanistan’s neighbors, had an important role to play.

“Pakistan reiterated its support for intra-Afghan dialogue, which is vital to move the process forward. It was highlighted that the prospective agreement in Afghanistan must contribute to bringing lasting peace and stability leading to international cooperation and development in Afghanistan.”

The delegation of Pakistan also emphasized the need for creating a conducive environment in Afghanistan for early and dignified return of Afghan refugees to their homeland, as per the FO’s statement.

The two sides reviewed the state of engagement and cooperation between Pakistan and the United States on a range of bilateral issues including political, economic and consular matters, the statement added.

‘NO EVIDENCE AGAINST INDIA’

Meanwhile, while interacting with journalists at the US Embassy, Alice Wells said that US does not have the evidence of India using Afghan soil against Pakistan.

The statement appears to suggest that the US is far from convinced with Pakistan’s narrative on India.

Pakistan has long been expressing its concerns regarding India using the Afghan soil to create trouble and often presented the case of Indian spy Kulbushan Yadhav as evidence.

The American diplomat, nevertheless, made it clear that US would never condone or support any use of ‘terrorist proxies against another country’.

“We have been working very actively with Pakistan to combat whether it’s al Qaeda or TTP. Any terrorist attacking Pakistan is enemy of ours and we share very strong counter-terrorism objectives in defeating extremist forces,” Wells emphasised.

When her attention was drawn towards Pakistan’s concerns regarding India’s role in creating trouble in Balochistan, she urged regional countries to respect each other’s sovereignty without naming India.

“We recognise and respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan. We do not support any separatist movements,” she said, adding, “We think it’s critical that nations of this region respect one another and work to achieve peace and economic growth.”

Wells also said the US had no information regarding Pakistan Army’s latest allegations that Afghan and Indian secret agencies were funding the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM).

Wells said the US welcomed Prime Minister Imran’s public statements affirming his resolve not to allow Pakistan’s soil to be used against any other country.

“I would positively note that many comments the prime minister has made in public underscoring his government’s commitment to moving away from non-state actors to ensuring that the national action plan that Pakistan has forged is implemented,” she said.

She said the steps the government had so far taken to implement the national action plan were ‘positive.’

Wells said under the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan, Pakistan had to take specific steps to deal with the terror financing. Ultimately, she said it would not be the US but FATF that would determine the steps taken by Pakistan.

She nevertheless added the US appreciated recent steps hoping that would continue until the threat was eliminated.

About the prospects of resumption of dialogue between Pakistan and India after the polls are over in the neighboring country, Wells apparently linked the progress to Pakistan’s commitment of not allowing its territory to be used against India.

She said Pakistan needed to demonstrate its commitment to ensure that “violence is prerogative of the state that the militant groups can’t take advantage of Pakistani soil.”

When asked to specify the US concerns regarding the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Wells said while Washington did not object to infrastructure investment by China, the question remains whether such projects meet the international standards.

She argued that such investments should be transparent, sustainable and should produce benefits for the country.

“So any concern that we have over CPEC projects is with regards to the transparency, the efficacy and the sustainability of the loans,” she explained.

“This is an issue that is not Pakistan specific. We have expressed this concern about belt and road initiative more broadly.

“We welcome the infrastructure investment by China and by all countries so far it advances the prosperity of the countries involved,” she maintained.

“We have had cases whether it’s the Hambantota port of Sri Lanka, whether its prime minister of Malaysia saying enough is enough whether it’s the Maldives where the newly elected president is unwinding projects that have been contracted on non-transparent terms that are not beneficial to Maldives,” she elaborated further.

Link: https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/20...-continue-engagement-on-afghan-peace-process/

 

[mustang]

Does this now mean all those posts here claiming Indian "interference" in Afghanistan are moot points? If there is no Indian interference per this article, is there American or Israeli interference against Pakistan happening in Afghan soil?

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Ofcourse they would say that, its against their interests to hamper the India-USA relationship.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

Ofcourse they would say that, its against their interests to hamper the India-USA relationship.

Not that I agree or disagree with this article......but surely this logic can also be applied to the F16 saga where you can't take their word with so much money tied to its sales.....not that Pentagon has officially given any word (they claimed they were unaware first and later flat out refused to share details with India citing it to be a bilateral deal between Pak and USA).

 

[Hitman]

Not that I agree or disagree with this article......but surely this logic can also be applied to the F16 saga where you can't take their word with so much money tied to its sales.....not that Pentagon has officially given any word (they claimed they were unaware first and later flat out refused to share details with India citing it to be a bilateral deal between Pak and USA).

I was thinking the same. It's about what suits your narrative

 

[Hitman]

And here comes the great grandfather of all conspiracy theories -

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Understandable.....a forum led by Hussain Haqqani and Pakistani traitors in media and society find a reason to celebrate this CIAs attempt at covering up its own crimes against Pakistan...<br>Pakistan should throw out this witch too... <a href="https://t.co/k7GHjgoIan">pic.twitter.com/k7GHjgoIan</a></p>— Zaid Hamid (@ZaidZamanHamid) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZaidZamanHamid/status/1123431273228324865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">1 May 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[SensiblePakFan]

Not that I agree or disagree with this article......but surely this logic can also be applied to the F16 saga where you can't take their word with so much money tied to its sales.....not that Pentagon has officially given any word (they claimed they were unaware first and later flat out refused to share details with India citing it to be a bilateral deal between Pak and USA).

The US congress refused to sell F16's to Pakistan.. Obama had to force it through so yea, they would have revealed it by now if they were used lol

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

The US congress refused to sell F16's to Pakistan.. Obama had to force it through so yea, they would have revealed it by now if they were used lol

So?

Why the lol?

Why is it that US would happily lie about India's role in Afghanistan but be honest if an F16 went down thus jeopardizing its brand image?

Do you realize Lockheed Martin is trying super hard to sell F16s to India?

Also USA would be one of the BIGGEST beneficiaries in an Indo-Pak conflict.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

I was thinking the same. It's about what suits your narrative

Yep.

Pak is unable to claim a SU-30 kill because it would jeopardize a future deal with Russia (whatever that is) but USA wouldn't do the same?

To be honest, based on neutral defense analysts, theoretically speaking, both F16 and SU-30 kill could have been possible.

Mig 21 was assisted by SU-30. It's IAF's strategy to use Mig 21 as the surprise weapon cos it flies with its radars off. They executed this to perfection back in 2005 combat training drills against USA. So technically it could have taken down F16 (IAF says it has given proof but I haven't yet read a neutral source it's confirmed).

Same way, Pak could have shot down the SU-30 which was assisting the Mig 21 (no proof for this whatsoever tho).

Based on my reading, modern warfare is less about aircrafts and more about coordinated systems. Inferior aircrafts can take out superior ones with a coordinated system.

 

[CricketCartoons]

It is open secret what india does in afghanistan.

 

[Hitman]

It is open secret what india does in afghanistan.

I see what you did here

 

[Angrez Pakistani]

I was thinking the same. It's about what suits your narrative

Clearly.

 

[Lonewarrior]

US- No PAF F-16 is missing.
India - Its a Lie.

US-No proof of India using afghan soil against pakistan
India- Its True.

 

[Lonewarrior]

LOL

 

[slipcatch]

The gullibility of over 800 million + people at display again.

 

[Sachin136]

US- No PAF F-16 is missing.
India - Its a Lie.

Which US official or department said that? It was just an FP article that was later rebuked.

 

[Lonewarrior]

Which US official or department said that? It was just an FP article that was later rebuked.

any link ?
also, did US acknowledged about F-16 counting ?

 

[SensiblePakFan]

The gullibility of over 800 million + people at display again.

Yup, cant accept that no F16's were used

 

[PakLFC]

We do not need America's approval. After all when they have said the same of Pak fauj the Indian's have also dismissed their claims as well.