US says will 'listen' to Pakistan, find 'common ground' to fight terror

Mattis is on a five-day tour to Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait and Pakistan, since taking over the charge of the Pentagon

Press Trust of India  |  Washington 

US Defence Secretary, James Mattis
US Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

US Defense Secretary Jim has said he intends to work hard to find common ground with in the fight against terrorism, which is necessary to restore the level of stability in South to allow economic development.

Ahead of his visit to Islamabad, said he wants to work with Pakistan, listening to one another without being combative with one another, listening to others perspective, to address the problems.


is on a five-day tour to Egypt, Jordan, and Kuwait and Pakistan, since taking over the charge of the Pentagon.

Visiting about a week after the asked to immediately charge and arrest the 26/11 attack mastermind, Hafiz Saeed, in the absence of which it warned of repercussions, said he needs to talk to leaders in the country and gain their understanding.

Saeed is still roaming free, despite tough warning from the Administration.

"The first thing I'm going to do is do some listening, like I always do. My goal is to find common ground. I need to go, to sit down and listen to them, start there, start by listening," told reporters travelling with him on his way to from

is the first top US official to visit after the completion of the first 100 days of the new South Strategy that was announced by President Donald on August 21.

"We know we have some common ground. They have lost hundreds, thousands of their troops killed and wounded by terrorists. They have lost hundreds, thousands of their innocent people murdered and wounded by terrorists, so we know that there is common ground".

Similarly, he said, there is common ground between Afghanistan and Pakistan, because there are terrorist groups that try to move back and forth, that do move back and forth in order to live in one and attack in the other, that sort of thing.

"So we know there's common ground; it's how much more common ground can we find by listening to one another without being combative with one another, listening to others perspective," said.

"But at the same time, as the (Army Chief) General (Qamar Javed Bajwa) has said, he wants no havens for terrorists anywhere, so we will work together and we'll find that common ground, if we have the will to.

"And then we'll work on how we address the problems where we can work together," the Defense Secretary said.

Responding to a question, he said he would not characterise everything over the past 16 years as failures.

"There is clearly an abundance of areas where we have to double down, and I am optimistic at this point that because of what our adversaries, our mutual enemies are doing, that we can find ways to work together," he said.

said both and Afghanistan, the military, the NATO-led militaries of 39 nations have all been in fights here. "We've got to find a way to work together".

He said there is "always an urgency to something" when 39 nations plus Afghanistan have their troops in the midst of a long war, where causalities are being taken.

"These are 39 of the most economically powerful, generally speaking, most long-term democratic institutions in the world. These are powerful nations morally, economically and diplomatically, and certainly militarily," he said.

said that it was essential in South that all work together to restore the level of stability that allows for the economy to build.

"I mean, can you imagine a border between and India where economic trade is not ongoing to the benefit of people on both sides of that border. We can not only imagine it; it's a reality right now," said.

So, the US Defence Secretary said that we have got to work together on this, and there's a sense of urgency about that.

"There's people who are living below the poverty line in both those countries. So as you look at this problem, if you'll expand the problem you can understand the sense of urgency to move beyond violence and get back to the normal order of things," he said.

is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and General Bajwa.

"General Bajwa is a mature officer with a deep background in not just military matters, but South security issues, and we have got to find a way to move beyond this constant fighting that's characterised the area," he said.

First Published: Mon, December 04 2017. 12:12 IST