US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told Pakistan on Thursday that the Taliban's safe havens along the Af-Pak border have to be eliminated or both nations would suffer "more lethal and brazen attacks".
Arriving on a crucial visit to Islamabad, Gates said, "It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Al Qaeda. So it impossible to separate these groups."
Saying that the chief reason for his visit was to develop a broader strategic dialouge with Pakistan, Gates writing in The News made it clear that there was a link between Afghanistan's stability and Pakistan's stability.
His comments come as Islamabad has mounted a big military campaign against Pakistani Taliban faction that are attacking the state, but resisted US pressure to attack other Taliban groups like the powerful Haqqani network, who do not attack Pakistan but cross the border to fight US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation troops in Afghanistan.
"If history is any indication, safe havens for either Taliban, on either side of the border in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in both nations," Gates wrote in an article in a leading Pakistani newspaper.
The US defence secretary said, "Only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will Afghanistan and Pakistan be able to rid themselves of this scourge for good... to destroy those who promote the use of terror here and abroad."
He praised the military offensive launched against the Taliban in recent months. Apparently referring to trust deficit between Washington and Islamabad, Gates said that US wanted to relinquish grievances of the past held by both sides.
Though he said US wants Pakistan to broaden its offensive to border areas where the Afghan Taliban have been seeking refuge, Gates said he won't directly press Islamabad to expand its military campaign, but only ask what its military plans were. Pakistan has been waging a long military offensive to uproot Taliban militants from Swat and South Waziristan killing more than 700 militants.
It has also captured most of the insurgent bases in these regions. But the bulk of the Taliban including their top commanders and foreign fighters have eluded the security forces and US believes they are holed up in areas closer to Afghan border.
Reassuring that US was committed for a long haul in the region, he said US wanted a long term, strategic partnership with a democratic Pakistan.
