Islamabad failed to fulfill commitments on eradicating terrorism

US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan has said that Islamabad has done nothing against terrorist groups, particularly the Haqqani Network.

Richard Olson, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan called on Islamabad to fulfill its commitments for eliminating terror groups.

“We’ve long expressed our concerns to the Pakistanis about their reluctance to go after terrorists that threaten their neighbors with the same degree of assiduousness that they go after their own terrorists. We think that they are at a moment of needing to make a very strategic and fundamental choice,” Olson said when asked what Pakistan is doing to bring the Taliban to the negotiation table.

“So Pakistan has also been very helpful in the reconciliation process, but I do believe that there is a strategic choice right now. With the Taliban having refused to come to the table, it seems to us that it is time to address more robustly the question of groups that threaten Afghanistan,” Olson said.

The US, he said, has pressed the Pakistan government on its commitment not to discriminate among terrorist groups. “We believe across regions there must be zero tolerance for safe havens,” he said.

Olson also praised US efforts for Afghanistan and also noted that the Afghan soldiers are fighting courageously in difficult situations in the country.

Since 2010, the Obama government has pursued a negotiated settlement to the Afghan conflict and sought Pakistan’s help in this regard.

Ghani, since taking office in late 2014, has expended a good deal of his own political capital in relations with Pakistan, and paid a steep price as a result of the sparse return on investment.