United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday met in New Delhi to discuss bilateral, regional and global matters, ANI reported. “Too many terror groups have found a safe haven in Pakistan, which is now threatening the stability of Pakistan government,” Tillerson said.
The secretary of state said he had a “frank exchange” with Pakistani leaders during his visit to Islamabad on Tuesday. Tillerson stressed that India and US stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism, adding: “Terrorist safe havens will not be tolerated.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Tillerson, who arrived from Islamabad, laid a wreath at Raj Ghat. He met National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
During a joint press conference, Swaraj said a trilateral meeting involving New Delhi, Washington and Kabul will be held in December. She said she had raised the H1-B visa matter with her American counterpart.
Swaraj said recent attacks in Afghanistan are proof that supporters of terrorism are active. “US President Donald Trump’s policy on terrorism can only succeed when Pakistan takes action on terror groups,” the external affairs minister said.
Tillerson said New Delhi and Washington were natural allies, adding that India is crucial to the US-Afghanistan strategy. “We back India as a leader in the region,” he said.
He said the US is willing to work with Pakistan in a positive way. “In my discussions in Islamabad, we were frank to conclude that there are too many terrorist outfits that find a safe haven in Pakistan,” Firstpost quoted Tillerson as saying. “We are putting in place a mechanism to deny these outfits the ability to launch attacks on other countries.”
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