Rattled by specific reference to Pakistan in the India-US Joint Statement issued following the bilateral meeting held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Washington, Islamabad on Friday cited its past counter-terrorism cooperation with the United States to express surprise over the development.
“We consider the Pakistan-specific reference in the Indo-US joint statement of Feb 13 as one-sided, misleading and contrary to diplomatic norms. We are surprised the reference has been added to the joint statement notwithstanding Pakistan’s counter-terrorism cooperation with the US,” said Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan during a weekly media briefing.
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PM Modi and Trump had a detailed discussion on the “global scourge of terrorism” and reaffirmed that terrorist safe havens should be eliminated from every corner of the world.
“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved. The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks,” read the Joint Statement issued after the meeting.
Pakistani-origin businessman Tahawwur Hussain Rana is accused of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people, including six Americans, by providing material support to Pakistani terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba.
He has been linked to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, a key conspirator in the attacks and is also accused of having close links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The statement mentioned the joint resolve of both leaders and their commitment to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups – including Al-Qa’ida, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba – in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.
Both leaders also pledged to work together to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors.
As Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump announced plans to pursue new procurements and co-production arrangements for ‘Javelin’ Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and ‘Stryker’ Infantry Combat Vehicles in India besides accelerating defence technology cooperation across space, air defence, missile, maritime and undersea technologies, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry also expressed its concern over deepening India-US defence partnership spanning multiple domains.
“Pakistan is also deeply concerned over the planned transfer of military technology to India. Such steps accentuate military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability. They remain unhelpful in achieving durable peace in South Asia,” said Shafqat Ali Khan.
