Pakistan using India as excuse to pursue Afghan policy: US official

Pakistan is using India's role in Afghanistan as an excuse to pursue its policies in the war-torn country, a top US official said, dismissing Islamabad's concerns over New Delhi's developmental activities in Afghanistan.

"What India is doing in Afghanistan is not a threat to Pakistan," National Security Council spokesperson Michael Anton told reporters on Tuesday.

"They're (India) not building military bases. They're not deploying troops. They're not doing the things that would constitute encirclement, for lack of a better term, which is one of the things that the Pakistanis complain about," Anton was quoted by Politico online.

He said US President Donald Trump's new get-tough approach with Pakistan could potentially include sanctions on Islamabad. The move has put Pakistan on notice that business was not as usual with Islamabad.

"The US has been really patient with Pakistan for a really long time. We haven't been getting a good deal from them," Anton said.

The statement came a day after Trump accused Pakistan of "housing the very terrorists we (Americans) are fighting" in Afghanistan.

Taking note of US security aid to Pakistan, Anton said America received in return "indifference to border crossing and terrorist safe havens and sanctuaries" in the tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghan border, Politico reported.

"In the worst case," he accused Pakistan of being guilty of "active direct support" to terrorist groups.

The NSC spokesperson claimed that Trump had benefited from an outsider's perspective on the Pakistan-US relationship by foregoing "conventional wisdom" that "however, much the Pakistanis double-deal you and lie to you and don't cooperate, you have no choice but to just keep the status quo".

--IANS

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