Ahead of 2+2 dialogue, US to Delhi: Will call out Pak for not doing enough against terror groups

“We did not have to ask them on why were they were stopping over in Pakistan. They understood our concerns, and assuaged us by saying ‘we are going to call them out’ on terrorism,” a source told The Indian Express. This message was conveyed to New Delhi, days before the 2+2 dialogue, scheduled to take place on September 6.

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Pompeo will be visiting Islamabad on Wednesday, on his way to New Delhi, and will meet his counterpart, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, and is also likely to call on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Recently, after Pompeo called up Pakistan’s newly-elected PM Imran Khan, the US said the Secretary of State had raised the issue of terrorism, but Pakistan denied any reference to terrorism during the phone call and asked Washington to amend its readout. The US stuck its statement.

Sources told The Indian Express that India was quite pleased about the Trump administration’s tough stance against Pakistan, and that has been reflected in Washington’s cancellation of $300 million disbursement for the Pakistan’s military.

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With US President Donald Trump publicly saying that Pakistan was unreliable in his famous New Year Day tweet, the US suspended disbursement of the Coalition Support Funds for Islamabad’s failure to take action against terrorist groups. The US has now withheld about $800 million from the CSF so far this year.

While US Secretaries of State under the previous Obama administration had started de-hyphenating India and Pakistan in their itinerary, the Trump administration re-hyphenated when it comes to the Secretary of State’s schedule. Last October, when US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had visited India, he had visited Pakistan as well.

But, for the Indian side, it will be all ears to learn about Pompeo’s conversation with the Khan-led Pakistan government. “Since he will be coming from there, we will be keen to hear directly from him about his impressions of the new government in Pakistan,” a source said.

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Pompeo will be joined by US Defence Secretary James Mattis, and they will meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. They are likely to be joined by US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Joseph Francis Dunford Jr, who is also travelling to India at the same time.

The visiting US secretaries will arrive on Wednesday night, and meet their counterparts next morning. Their interaction will be first one-on-one meetings between Pompeo and Swaraj, and a separate one-on-one between Mattis and Sitharaman. Then they will be headed for the two-plus-two dialogue, where they will be accompanied by 12 officials from both sides. Their conversation will continue over a working lunch at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, where the Ministry of External Affairs is located. It is expected to be followed by statements by the four principals. After the statements, the four principals – the two US secretaries and two Indian ministers – will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

And, in the evening, while Pompeo is expected to head back to Washington DC, Mattis will be hosted for a dinner by Sitharaman. The US Defence Secretary will return to Washington DC on Friday morning.