US, India press Pakistan over terror groups

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joined her Indian counterpart on Tuesday in pressing Pakistan to do more to combat terror networks as they vowed to step up joint efforts against extremism.
“We look to the government of Pakistan to do more,” Clinton told a press conference in India, a day after she said Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri was believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
“It needs to make sure its territory is not used as a launching pad for terrorist attacks anywhere, including inside Pakistan,” she added.
Three of the top five militants on the US most-wanted list are believed to be in Pakistan, including Al-Qaeda chief Zawahiri and the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar.
Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna also stressed “the need for stronger action from Pakistan on terrorism, including on bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Mumbai terrorist attacks”.
Clinton said the US and India were deepening security co-operation, while Krishna detailed how they already shared intelligence and expertise.
Washington must overcome deep suspicion in South Asia between arch-foes Pakistan and India as it seeks Islamabad’s help with the war in Afghanistan while looking to deepen diplomatic and commercial links with New Delhi.
US-Pakistan relations have dramatically worsened in the last year, especially over the covert raid that killed Osama bin Laden last May and US air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
Islamabad, which is likely to be antagonised by the latest comments, says it is the biggest victim of extremism and is doing all it can to counter the menace.
On Monday, Clinton also pressed Pakistan over the presence of the founder of the increasingly powerful militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who is wanted for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The United States last month offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the conviction of Hafiz Saeed, who lives openly in Pakistan and is considered a mastermind of the assault in India that killed 166 people.
Speaking in Kolkata on Monday, Clinton said she was “well aware” that Islamabad had not yet taken steps to help secure Saeed’s conviction.
Saeed was put under house arrest in Pakistan a month after the Mumbai attacks, but was released in 2009 and in 2010 the Supreme Court upheld his release on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to detain him.
Clinton has also used the India leg of her Asian trip to pressure New Delhi to further reduce its oil imports from Iran, which provided 12 percent of Indian imports last year.
US and European-led sanctions against the Islamic republic have sought to choke off oil revenues and force Tehran to abandon what they suspect is a drive to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran says that its uranium work is for peaceful purposes and US intelligence has not concluded that Tehran is developing a nuclear bomb.
Krishna acknowledged that Iran “remains an important source of oil for us” and said of the reductions: “Ultimately, it reflects the decision that refineries make based on commercial, financial and technical considerations.”
“This issue is not a source of discord between our two countries,” he insisted.
India and the US, the world’s two largest democracies, have rapidly expanded ties since overcoming mutual mistrust during the Cold War, but tension over Iran and difficulties in their trade relations have stunted progress.
Krishna said India had “expressed hope that our economic relationship which is very important to both countries, would grow much faster”, while conceding there were “issues on both sides.”
He said he had conveyed “concern” about protectionist sentiment in the US during this year’s presidential election campaign and the difficulties faced by Indians in getting work visas.
Relations between Delhi and Washington were reset by then US president Bill Clinton in the 1990s and invigorated by his successor George W. Bush, who signed a landmark nuclear energy deal that was meant to hand business to US companies.
Indian legislation passed since then is seen by Washington as penalising privately-owned US nuclear companies, which are unable to take on the liability imposed on them in the event of an accident.
Addressing US concerns about this, Krishna promised a “level playing field” for all nuclear firms.