Notwithstanding the concerns the US has about the continued links that some elements of the ISI has with terrorist outfits like Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Obama administration has said that Islamabad in the last one year has made strategic shift in the war against terrorism.
“Pakistan has, in our view, made a strategic shift in the last year or more. It has taken aggressive action at considerable expense to Pakistan,” state department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference.
“The Pakistani people are suffering as much if not more than any other people in the world because of terrorism. But there is clearly more to be done,” he said.
“Our joint concern here is to eliminate the safe havens that exist in the region and to prevent the emergence of new safe havens from which there can be the export of terrorism that can threaten US, Europe, or other parts of the world,” Crowley said.
When asked about the comment made by British Prime Minister David Cameroon that his country would not tolerate export of terrorism by Pakistan, the state department spokesman said US does not want to see the export of terror by any country.
“We are concerned about and have said many times that extremist element within the borders of Pakistan, in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, first and foremost, it represents a threat to Pakistan, it represents a threat to Afghanistan,” Crowley said.
“As we have seen, extremists with links to these areas have made their way to Europe, have made their way to the US. This is an important component of our relationship and our strategic dialogue with Pakistan, and we are both satisfied with the aggressive steps that Pakistan has taken in recent months at considerable expense to Pakistan,” he said.