Pakistan has an addiction of playing around with militant groups against India and the US has virtually given up its efforts to change this mindset, a top Pentagon official has said.
“ They have an addiction to playing around with militia groups to achieve certain interests, particularly vis- a- vis India. That gets them in all kinds of trouble,” Michael Sheehan, assistant secretary of defence for special operations/ low- Intensity conflict, told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing.
Responding to questions, Sheehan said the US discussed with Pakistan on this issue, but without much success.
“ We’ve had these conversations with them forever about that. I don’t see that changing. I don’t see any set of talking points that’s going to be delivered by some new diplomat that’s going to change their mind,” Sheehan said.
“ It’s the way they view the world. We have to understand the way they view the world and try to work through it.
But it’s not going to be easy, but I think at the end of the day, we have been successful in the FATA in degrading al- Qaeda over the past 10 years despite all these problems.
“ And I think that we’re going to continue to work through it and hopefully again have another 10 years of success in degrading al- Qaeda’s strategic capability in the FATA and elsewhere,” Sheehan said.
India has in the past accused Pakistan of running terror training camps for anti- India activities.
-PTI