U.S. Can’t Win Afghanistan War Without Pakistan: Dunford

America’s highest ranking military officer, Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Aspen Security Forum, a gathering of national security officials said the U.S. cannot win the war in Afghanistan without the support of Pakistan.

“Experiences achieved over the past years indicate that Washington will not be able to win the war in Afghanistan without Pakistan’s support,” he said.

According to Dunford Pakistan would be a key element of Washington’s new strategy for South Asia.

“So we’re in the midst — I think it has been referred to this week — we’re in the midst of a review, and it’s not an Afghan review, it’s a South Asia review. And what I would — the short answer to your question, is that we should only provide more capability on the ground if it’s in the context of a broader strategy that has a chance of being successful. And so I do believe that additional forces for the Afghan security forces would make them more competitive,” Dunford said.

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, United States Marine Corps Gen. Dunford noted that the deployment of additional troops in Afghanistan will help the conventional forces combat the insurgenets with more power.

“Absolutely. I mean this is from New Delhi to Tehran when we talk about South Asia and a critical element of our strategy in the region has to be Pakistan. And we cannot be successful in Afghanistan — we’ve seen that over the last several years — unless we have a higher degree of cooperation from Pakistan. So Pakistan is absolutely an integral part of the strategic review that’s ongoing,” added Dunford.

This comes as U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has recently said that the administration is “close” to finalizing a plan going forward in Afghanistan.