INDIA’S ECONOMY will only be able to maintain its impressive growth if the bureaucracy ceases to be “an expert in setting up roadblocks”, the visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday.
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Kerry, who was to leave on Wednesday, has postponed his departure, state department deputy spokesman Mark Toner said.
Mr Kerry said on Tuesday that Islamabad should not feel isolated by fresh talks that are planned between the US, India and Afghanistan next month in NY.
On Tuesday, the two countries agreed to new steps, including U.S. financing for an improved power grid and a cybersecurity framework.
“We all recognise the continued security threat that is posed by the Haqqani network and by other terrorist groups that operate inside Pakistan and along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan”, Dawn online reported on Thursday quoting spokesperson John Kirby as saying at a news briefing.
She said that the two nations also reaffirmed the urgent necessity for Pakistanto dismantle safe havens for terrorists and criminal networks, including Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. “More than 50,000 people have been killed…people define a great religion Islam in a way that doesn’t reflect that religion. When Pakistan does take action, there’s usually pretty intense pushback and blowback which makes it [tackling terror] harder”, he said.
The Pakistan Army launched military operations in 2014 in the troubled North Waziristan region, which is said to be the base of the Haqqani group.
“Even though we are witnessing impressive gains in India’s economic growth, there is still a real question as to whether we are doing so quickly enough”, he said.
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American support to right to protest was the highlight of a monsoon-drenched day that Kerry concluded with a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi whom he briefed about the S&CD. In his speech at IIT, Kerry said, “The US continues to call on China and the Philippines to abide by the (UN) tribunal’s recent decision (recognizing Beijing had violated Manila’s rights in South China Sea) which is final and legally binding on both parties”.
