Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, EAM Dr S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin hold joint press conference on India-US 2+2 dialogue (Photo Source: Michael A McCoy/Pool via Reuters)
New Delhi: One takeaway from the Joint Statement of the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was a strong reference to terrorism and crystal clear pressure on Pakistan to act.
“The Ministers called on Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks,” said the Joint Statement after the meeting between Dr S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh and US counterparts, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The statement also said, “The Ministers strongly condemned any use of terrorist proxies and cross-border terrorism in all its forms and called for the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attack and Pathankot attack to be brought to justice.”
They called for concerted action against all terrorist groups, including groups proscribed by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee, such as al-Qa’ida, ISIS/Daesh, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), and Hizb ul Mujahideen.
It is worth mentioning that Pakistan was once a close ally of the United States and therefore, Washington naming Pakistan in a written and joint statement with another global and regional player is a significant step by itself.
The Ministers also emphasized the importance of upholding international standards on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism by all countries, consistent with FATF recommendations, the Joint Statement said.
The episode has definitely embarrassed Pakistan, whose foreign policy in the recent past has gone topsy-turvy due to its open slant towards China.
Media reports said that Pakistan’s foreign office has shared its concerns regarding the statement with the US side through diplomatic channels.
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