Take Meaningful Action Against Terrorism: US Urges Pak

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urges Pakistan to “take meaningful action against terrorism” on its soil.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday told ANI, “I spoke to Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi to underscore the priority of de-escalating current tensions by avoiding military action and the urgency of Pakistan taking meaningful action against terrorist groups operating on its soil.”

The statement came following the air strike conducted by India on Pakistan at 0330 hours as a counterterror action against Pulwama attack in south Kashmir which killed a convoy of 40 CRPF soldiers on 14 February.

Speaking to the Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, Mike Pompeo said, “Following Indian counter-terrorism actions on February 26, I spoke with the Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to emphasise our close security partnership and shared the goal of maintaining peace and security in the region.”

“The attack was not on Pakistan but terrorism,” stated Foreign Minister Vijay Gokhale in a media briefing quoting the attack as “a preemptive, non-military strike”.

A non military preemptive strike means that a military target has not been hit by the Indian Air Force that carried out the strikes in the early hours of Tuesday. Hitting a military target would be construed as an act of war.

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