US Official Calls For Action By Pakistan On Islamic Extremist Groups Ahead Of Visit

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet on October 7-8 with officials in Pakistan during a trip that includes India and Uzbekistan.

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman (AFP Photo)

New Delhi: Ahead of the visit to Islamabad, a top U.S. official asked Pakistan to take action against all extremist groups. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will meet on October 7-8 with officials in Pakistan, which has long faced US accusations of playing a double game in Afghanistan where the Taliban swept back to power in August.

"We seek a strong partnership with Pakistan on counterterrorism and we expect sustained action against all terrorist groups without distinction," Sherman told reporters according to AFP.

"Both of our countries have suffered terribly from the scourge of terrorism and we look forward to cooperative efforts to eliminate all regional and global terrorist threats," she said from Switzerland, her first stop on a trip that will also take her to India and Uzbekistan.

A longtime critic of US military campaigns, Prime Minister Imran Khan during an interview which aired on Friday that his government had opened talks with Pakistani Taliban about laying down their arms.

"Some of the Pakistani Taliban groups actually want to talk to our government for some peace, for some reconciliation," he told Turkey's TRT World television.

He also said that discussions were taking place in Afghanistan with sections of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. 

"I repeat, I do not believe in military solutions," Khan said.

The Pakistan PM has encouraged the world to engage Afghanistan's Taliban and provide economic support though has not backed recognition, a step which is also opposed by the United States. Sherman praised Pakistan's calls for an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

"We look to Pakistan to play a critical role in enabling that outcome," she was quoted by AFP.

Pakistan has assured the international community that it too wants an inclusive government in Kabul and will continue urging the Taliban to fulfill the promises they made to the international community.

But Islamabad has also warned the international community that its influence over the Taliban is limited and it cannot force them to do anything.

According to the AFP report, US officials say segments of Pakistan's powerful intelligence service maintained backing for the Taliban, in part due to the former Western-backed Afghan government's close ties with India.