Frontier India Current Affairs

Written on May 6, 2008 – 7:32 am | by FICA |

John D. Negroponte, US Deputy Secretary of State speaking in a forum hosted by National Endowment for Democracy said that “I want to emphasize that military cooperation will remain an important feature of that partnership, for reasons related specifically to the war on terrorism and more generally to the value of cultivating good relations with regional powers.”

Negroponte pointed out that US will again try to build bridges with Pakistani Armed forces. He said “During the 1990s, the estrangement between America and Pakistan created a strategic disconnect between our two militaries. A generation of United States and Pakistan military officers did not cooperate with one another as closely as they could have. So we are exploring ways to increase military exchange and training programs to reengage with middle and senior ranking Pakistani officers, to give them experience working jointly with the United States.”

The reason for the increased grip on the Pakistani Armed forces officers is to encourage democratic values in a professionalized officer corps, withdraw from politics and focus more on extremists in so called Pakistan’s frontier areas.

Negroponte issued a veiled threat to Pakistan by saying “But let me be clear: we will not be satisfied until all the violent extremism emanating from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas is brought under control. It is unacceptable for extremists to use those areas to plan, train for, or execute attacks against Afghanistan, Pakistan, or the wider world. Their ongoing ability to do so is a barrier to lasting security, both regionally and internationally. Pakistan’s Government must bring the frontier area under its control as quickly as possible and we are certainly prepared to provide appropriate assistance to the Government of Pakistan in order to achieve that objective.”

Answering a question on the attacks on NATO and Afghanistan troops by Taliban and al-Qaida, Negroponte said “I think there’s a recognition of that fact on both sides of the border. After all, the Government of Pakistan has put something like 120,000 troops into the FATA area and the Northwest frontier area, which represents a considerable shift from a number of years ago. They’ve taken a lot of casualties themselves from extremist activities in that part of the country.”