Urgency of crisis demands quick action
Returning from a month-long holiday in the US, I was immediately struck by the urgency of the pollution crisis as I landed in Delhi, past midnight this week.
The US on Friday issued the highest level travel alert for the provinces of Balochistan and Kyber Pakhtunkhwa along with the Line of Control while advising its citizens to reconsider the visit of Pakistan due to terrorism.
“Do not travel to the India-Pakistan border. Militant groups are known to operate in the area. India and Pakistan maintain a strong military presence on both sides of the border”, the statement said.
Indian and Pakistani military forces periodically exchange gunfire and artillery fire across the LoC, the advisory said.
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These groups historically have not discriminated between government officials and civilians. Assassination and kidnapping attempts are common, including the targeting of polio eradication teams, it said.
According to the State Department, terrorist groups continue plotting attacks in Pakistan. A local history of terrorism and ongoing ideological aspirations of violence by extremist elements have led to indiscriminate attacks on civilians as well as local military and police targets, it said.
Last year, in September, the White House had even claimed that one of the takeaways of the G-7 summit was the reduction of India-Pakistan tensions.
The US and the Taliban seem to be nearer an agreement under which the US would withdraw in exchange for guarantees that Afghanistan would not become a haven for other terrorist groups.
In 2019, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan backed the need for an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue to “evolve a roadmap for future of Afghanistan”.
Khan emphasized that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the interest of Pakistan as well as of the broader region.
Earlier, Khalilzad was called on Qureshi’s invitation which the US peace envoy shared the outcomes about the seventh round of US-Taliban peace talks in Doha, Qatar and his recent engagements in the Afghan capital Kabul.
The United States had put pressure on Imran Khan to take “irreversible action” against terrorist and militant groups and to “facilitate peace talks” with the Taliban for intra-Afghan dialogue in July 2019.
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