Sealing the porous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was never on the US agenda despite the easy slippage of militants that can be seen as an extension of the grossly ambiguous Af-Pak policy of the US. Gradually, the battleground was to shift from Afghanistan into Pakistan through this porous border along with the Afghan based militants including the Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives to forge associations with extremist factions in Pakistan.
During her recent visit to India, the US secretary of State, Hillary Clinton while verbally articulating the fact that the US viewed Pakistan as a key ally, declared that terrorism had threatened both Pakistan and India. Apparently, the primary focus has been on terrorism that emanates from the tribal regions of Pakistan while sidetracking the new brand of Saffron terrorism that is now being termed as a more potent and threatening form than the Islamic one.
Highlighting the US commitment towards the war on terror and the intolerance preached by the US towards the presence of “safe havens for terrorists anywhere”, Ms Clinton has very conveniently missed out on all the safe havens and breeding grounds in Afghanistan during her passionate Pakistan targeted speech. The time, she defined has arrived “for Pakistan to act on its own to fight against militancy on its soil.” Thus validating the fact that militant infiltrating from the neighbouring Afghanistan where lawlessness is on the rise despite presence of US and allied troops is something that Pakistan ought to accept as a reward of entering the global war against terror.
LUBNA UMAR
Islamabad
