US is humiliating Pakistan, alleges Advisor to Pakistan PM, Miftah Ismail

Islamabad: The US made it crystal clear that it will not be satisfied unless Pakistan makes a resolve to finish all the terrorist groups. Lisa Curtis, deputy assistant to the President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia in the US National Security Council, visited Pakistan to deliver this message. She delivered this message during a meeting with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua. The US embassy to Pakistan released this information. Against the background of Curtis’ visit, Miftah Ismail, the financial advisor to the Pakistani Prime Minister has alleged that US is trying to put Pakistan in a dilemma.

There was an uproar in Pakistan after the news about Pakistan’s inclusion in the ‘Gray List’ of the ‘Financial Action Task Force (FATF). There is still some confusion in the Pakistani media regarding this and the government is being criticised for not coming up with an explanation for it. Some journalists and analysts claim that Pakistan’s name is scheduled to be included in the ‘Gray List’ in June and Pakistan has enough time to act against the terrorists. There are allegations of India trying to malign Pakistan’s image and to create fear by giving undue publicity to the ‘Gray List’ issue. The Karachi share market has crashed because of the false propaganda done by India, claimed some Pakistani journalists.

Against this background, Lisa Curtis visited Pakistan and had discussions with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Bilal Akbar. The United States had moved a resolution to include Pakistan in the ‘Gray List’, in the Paris meeting of the FATF. The relations between the two countries have further deteriorated due to this. But during her visit, Lisa Curtis made an appeal that Pakistan should take more severe action against the Haqqani network and the other terrorist groups. The United States wishes to make a fresh beginning for co-operation with Pakistan. But for that to happen, it is important that Pakistan demonstrates its commitment by acting against all the terrorist groups who have been threatening the stability and security of the region.

Pakistan had avoided acting against the Haqqani Group, which is an offshoot of the Taliban, and which is involved in subversive activities in Afghanistan. Pakistan also denies that Jaish-e-Mohammad and Laskar-e-Taiba, the groups that had carried out terrorist attacks in India, are actually terrorist groups. Against this background, the demand by Curtis to act against ‘All Terrorist Groups’ becomes significant. As of now, Pakistan seems to be thinking of escaping from the ‘Gray List’ by arresting only Hafeez Saeed and putting him under house arrest. So the expectation conveyed by Curtis has put Pakistan under further pressure.

Meanwhile, Miftah Ismail, the Financial Advisor to the Pakistani Prime Minister, has blamed the United States for putting Pakistan in a tight spot. Ismail said that the United States only wants to humiliate Pakistan without acknowledging the actions taken by Pakistan against terrorists. He also drew attention to the fact that Pakistan has the intention to act against terrorists.