ISLAMABAD – US troops would not launch an offensive in North Waziristan Agency (NWA), US Vice President Joseph Biden assured Pakistan on Wednesday, Online reported.
During a meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Kiyani, Biden said the US troops would not “impose a war on Pakistan in the name of expanding counterterrorism efforts beyond Afghanistan”, adding that Washington wanted Islamabad to launch a full-fledge military offensive in North Waziristan without any further delay.
The US vice president said the real threat to Pakistan was not from the US, but from the Al Qaeda and Taliban militants taking refuge in the country’s remote tribal regions.
“The Taliban and Al Qaeda elements living in the remote lawless areas of the country’s northwest are a threat to Pakistan. They continue to plot attacks against the US and our interests to this very day. They have found refuge in the most remote portions of your country,” he said.
“A close partnership between Pakistan and its people is in the vital self-interest of the United States of America and I will argue in the vital self-interest of Pakistan as well,” he said.
He said, “My hope is God willing, if I am able to stand here next year with you that we are able to point to greater progress and greater resolve and greater prosperity for your people and mine.”
The US vice president, who reached Islamabad on Wednesday on a day-long visit, also held extensive talks with President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on counterterrorism efforts, current political and economic crises as well as what the Obama administration was extremely worried about – the growing religious extremism in Pakistan.
“Biden talked candidly in all the three meetings and his message was very loud and clear,” a senior official said. He said the US vice president told the Pakistani leadership to put their house in order on all the three fronts, adding that they must not delay the much-needed steps in launching a military offensive in North Waziristan – the hub of global terrorism.”
“The US is worried about the rising extremism in Pakistan and the recent murder of the Punjab governor in the name of religion has set alarm bells ringing in Washington,” the official quoted Biden as saying.
However, he assured the Pakistani leaders that his country would continue its support for Pakistan in countering all those threats and said, “Ours is an open-ended commitment for support to Pakistan and it will continue in the months and years to come.”
Addressing a joint press conference with Prime Minister Gilani, Biden said Washington would work in partnership with Pakistan in taking action against terrorist groups.
Addressing anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, he delivered a bold message by telling the country that America was “not the enemy of Islam”.
“There are even some sections in Pakistani society and elsewhere that suggest American disrespects Islam and its followers. We are not the enemies of Islam and we embrace those who practise that great religion in all our country,” he said.
Prime Minister Gilani said his meeting with the US vice president was “very fruitful” and it was focused on countering terrorism, regional security and peace. He said Pakistan looked forward to a robust relationship with the US in terms of economic and security.
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