US sees 'strategic shift' by Pakistan

WASHINGTON (Agencies) The United States has seen a strategic shift by Pakistan in the past months during its fight against Taliban militants, a senior US official said Friday.
In the last nine months weve seen a significant strategic shift in Pakistan, a senior administration official said.
That strategic shift is the decision by the Pakistani security forces to take the fight against the Pakistani Taliban.
He highlighted the situation in the Swat Valley in the northwest tribal areas of Pakistan, which have served as a rear base for Afghan Taliban militants. If you go to Swat today, there are two Pakistani (army) divisions. Theyre doing classic counterinsurgency.
Another senior US official told reporters that recent arrests of Afghan Taliban members and leaders in Pakistan was a clear signal of the close cooperation taking place on the ground. There have been a number of commanders as well as leaders taken off the battlefield in the last several months, the official said.
Based on the recent captures and kills, it demonstrates that there are fewer places to hide... as well as more broadly across the Afghan Pak region.
Highlighting the recent capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the official stressed the cooperation with Pakistan against the Taliban.
Commending the Indo-Pak leadership for the courageous step of holding Foreign Secretary-level talks, the US has said the two countries have realised that only they can resolve their differences bilaterally. I think both countries realise there are lots of important issues that only they can resolve between them, but the US has encouraged the dialogue and we obviously hope that it will be productive, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Thursday.
On the meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir in New Delhi on Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs PJ Crowley said it was a very encouraging step.
We certainly commend the leadership for (showing) political courage and making sure that the meeting takes place. Now, the challenge is to build on this going forward, he told reporters here.
Though not much visible progress was made during Thursdays meeting, Crowley said, The very fact that the top officials of two countries met in itself is very encouraging.
The Obama Administration has have long encouraged the restoration of dialogue between the two countries. It is an important step for Pakistan and India, and we commend the political leadership in both countries, Crowley said.
In view of the advances made by US forces in southern part of Afghanistan and arrest of the top Taliban leaders in Pakistan, the top Obama Administration official said that the US is making significant advances in the AfPak region.
On the possibility of the Taliban getting hold of the Pakistan nuclear weapons and India taking preventive measures, Hillary Clinton told the members of Foreign Affairs and Related Programmes Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee, Well, Congressman, thats an extremely important issue and its one that we take as a very high priority in our efforts with both countries. We are heartened by the fact that they are resuming on a dialogue.
They made progress in the last dialogue between then (Pakistan) President (Pervez) Musharraf and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh. It was suspended when Musharraf left office. It is now only being resumed, she continued.
On Pakistans actions, she said the Obama Administration has been encouraged by the results of military and intelligence operations over the last several weeks that resulted in the capture and detention of some of the key members of the so-called Quetta Shura, a very high ranking Taliban leader, right up there with Mullah Omar.
We have also been encouraged by the Pakistani militarys successful efforts to rout Taliban from their own country, from Swat to North Waziristan, and we are working very closely with the government, both the democratically-elected government and the military and ISI, she said
she said Pakistanis had come to regard extremists as a direct threat to their states survival and also pointed to its military offensive in tribal areas.
Im actually quite pleased to see the very vigorous response coming forth, she testified before the House Appropriations Committee.