This story is from February 16, 2019

White House greenlights punitive Indian measures against Pakistan

White House greenlights punitive Indian measures against Pakistan
Soldiers examining the debris after an explosion in Lethpora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. (Reuters photo)
Key Highlights
  • The Trump administration virtually greenlighted punitive Indian measures against Pakistan for the Pulwama terrorist attack
  • US NSA John Bolton spoke to NSA Ajit Doval and expressed support for an Indian response in "self-defense"
  • The "two NSAs vowed to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for JeM and terrorist groups
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration on Friday virtually greenlighted punitive Indian measures against Pakistan for the Pulwama terrorist attack, saying it "supported India's right to self-defence against cross-border terrorism".
US National Security Advisor John Bolton spoke to his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval twice on phone following the attack to offer condolences and expressed support for an Indian response in "self-defence", an open-ended term that allows New Delhi to fashion its own answer to Pakistani provocation.

"Ambassador Bolton supported India's right to self-defence against cross-border terrorism. He offered all assistance to India to bring the perpetrators and backers of the attack promptly to justice," India's external affairs ministry confirmed in a statement, after Bolton had first disclosed in Washington his conversation with Doval to PTI.
The statement added that the "two NSAs vowed to work together to ensure that Pakistan ceases to be a safe haven for JeM and terrorist groups that target India, the US and others in the region".
A coordinated covert operation response, including drone strikes to take out UN-designated terrorists, has long been the desired objective in some quarters, but Washington has been reluctant to sign on to the idea, while signaling that it will have no problem if India wants to undertake such measures.
The US response to Pakistan's terrorist attacks has moved a long way from counselling restraint to both parties, which was the norm going back to the 1990s, to outright citing and condemnation of Pakistan and its terrorist policies, evident in Islamabad's reluctance to roll up UN-designated terrorist such as
Lashkar-e-Taiba's Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed's Masood Azhar. By continuing to allow the terrorists a free run in Pakistan, Islamabad is effectively in violation of its UN obligations, and Washington indicated it would also back any Indian move on the bureaucratic front to hold Pakistan to account before the international community.
Only China among major countries continues to provide cover to Pakistan's use of terror and to its terrorists.
"They (the two NSAs) resolved to hold Pakistan to account for its obligations under UN resolutions and to remove all obstacles to designating JeM leader Masood Azhar as a global terrorist under the UN Security Council Resolution 1267 Committee process," the MEA statement said.
Bolton in fact rewrote a milder State Department statement on the Pulwama attack put together by lower ranking officials in the absence of secretary of state Mike Pompeo who was traveling. The National Security Advisor, a known hawk on security issues, explicitly held Pakistan responsible for the attack, overriding a state department call for "all countries" to uphold their responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists.
The State Department subsequently fell in line with the White House's tough stand, with Pompeo, on his return, tweeting "We stand with #India as it confronts terrorism. Pakistan must not provide safe haven for terrorists to threaten international security."
In Pakistan though, denial continued to be norm with the country's finance minister Asad Umar rejecting allegations that Jaish-e-Mohammed was sponsored by Pakistan. The fact that UN-designated terrorists and jihadi terror groups have a free run in the country - a fact extensively chronicled in the media - does not appear to embarrass or faze Pakistan's leadership.
Umar also maintained the economy wouldn't be affected by India withdrawing the Most Favored Nation trade status to Pakistan following the Pulwama attack even though the country has gone down the tubes because of global opprobrium and its finances are shored up begging bowl trips to a handful of patrons such as Saudi Arabia and China.
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