United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday said Pakistan government had not done enough to eliminate terrorist groups in the country. His statement came a few hours before his visit to Islamabad. On September 2, US President Donald Trump cancelled $300 million, about Rs 21,000 crore, in military aid for Pakistan.

“The rationale for them [Pakistan] not getting the money is very clear,” Pompeo told reporters travelling with him before landing in Islamabad. “It’s that we haven’t seen the progress that we need to see from them.”

Advertisement

Pompeo said the Pakistan government had been informed of the decision over the summer. “This wasn’t news to the Pakistanis,” he said. “It made a lot of headlines over the last few days because of the formality... but they were told this past summer that they weren’t likely to get that money.”

Pompeo said the purpose of the trip was to express to Pakistan the US administration’s expectations from it. “The very reason for this trip is to try and articulate the things they can do, the things that they expect us to do, and see if we can’t find a path forward together,” he said.

On Wednesday, Pompeo met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Army Chief Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa in Islamabad, reported Geo News. This is the first high-level dialogue between the Washington and Islamabad since the new government assumed office after the elections in July.

Advertisement

Before meeting Khan, Qureshi held talks with the US delegation and discussed “bilateral, regional and international issues”, reported Dawn.

On Wednesday night, Pompeo arrived in New Delhi and was greeted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. He is set to discuss New Delhi’s purchase of Russian missile systems and Iranian crude oil during the “2+2 dialogue” on Thursday.