U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Pakistan had made progress in the fight against extremism in recent months, but urged Islamabad to push harder against militants hiding within its borders as tensions with neighbouring India rise amid more violence in the disputed region of Kashmir.
“It is clear that Pakistan has work to do in order to push harder against its indigenous groups that are engaged in extremist activities,” Kerry said on Wednesday, the second day of a visit to India.
The US Secretary of State went further today and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for attempting to improve ties with Pakistan. “You must credit PM Modi who extended an invite to Pak PM Sharif who came here for the inauguration (PM’s oath-taking ceremony)” he said.
Both the US and India have known the pain of terrorism, he said, adding that Pakistan must push harder against terror. He was echoing his comments from yesterday when he said that the US supports all efforts to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai and Pathankot attacks to justice.
“In fairness, the Pakistanis have suffered greatly from terrorism in their own country,” Kerry said. “All of us need to be supportive and also understanding of how difficult it is to take it on step by step.”
Without elaborating, he added: “I believe that in the last month’s progress is being made and the Pakistanis are moving at a greater pace.”
US Secretary of State John Kerry took potshots at waterlogging caused by heavy rains in Delhi, saying the students reached the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi on boats.
“I don’t know if you came in boats or amphibious vehicle of some kind,” Kerry asked, provoking laughter. There was a foot deep flooding on the road in front of IIT-Delhi.
Kerry was delayed reaching IIT-Delhi for his lecture due to the torrential rains in the national capital region on Wednesday morning.
