The US must declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, a former top senator who was instrumental in imposing tough sanctions on Pakistan in 1990s has said as he welcomed President Donald Trump's decision to elevate ties with India.
President Trump criticised Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill Americans in Afghanistan while announcing his new Afghan and South Asia policy. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.
With the new South Asia strategy, the US has moved closer to India and the Trump administration has elevated India to a new level, said former Republican Senator Larry Pressler, who is known in South Asia for his famous 'Pressler Amendment'.
Mr Pressler advocated the amendment, enforced in 1990 when the then President George HW Bush could not certify that Pakistan was not developing a nuclear weapon.
The amendment banned most US economic and military assistance to Pakistan unless the president certified annually that Pakistan does not possess a nuclear explosive device.
"We have always treated India and Pakistan equally.Theoretically, for the first time, president and the Secretary of State have said that we are going to treat India at a higher level," Mr Pressler told.
"I think, its good news for India. I think Pakistan should realise (this). I wish he (Trump) would declare them a terrorist state. (But) I don't think he's going quite that far," the 75-year-old former Republican Senator from South Dakota said.
He also said China will not "embrace" Pakistan as much as they say because they recognise that Pakistan is a very "unreliable ally" and they have been dishonest so much that is caught up with them finally, Mr Pressler said in response to a question whether Islamabad will seek more support from Beijing after Trump's outburst.
Interestingly, Mr Pressler, in his book, "Neighbours in Arms: An American Senator's Quest for Disarmament in a Nuclear Subcontinent", which was released last month, had made similar recommendations.
"There's a whole cadre of people in the Pentagon and the military industrial state who look on Pakistan as a compliant state. They (Pakistanis) are deceitful and they have not delivered. And they harbored Osama bin Laden and lots of other terrorists and they still are and they should be declared as quickly as we can. We should declare them a terrorist state and treat them as such," he said.
He said the relationship between the US and Pakistan has always been "flawed".
"The Pakistanis have been dishonest every step of the way and they used this tactic over and over. And our Pentagon has yielded to them over and over informally as I say in my book. A lot of this has been under the colour of our military industrial state," he said.
"I think at last, we have a have a president who doesn't agree with this and we have a Secretary of State, Secretary of Defence. I think we're entering a whole new age. We should discard Pakistan in this false marriage... false partner. We should end it," he said.
However, MR Pressler said that it would be tough for the US because Pakistan spends "millions and millions" of dollars in lobbying in Washington.
"I'm afraid we probably won't do that. But for the first time in my lifetime we're no longer saying India and Pakistan are equal diplomatically," he added.
US GIVES $255 MILLION WORTH OF CONDITIONAL ASSISTANCE TO PAKISTAN
The Trump administration has notified Congress that it will give Pakistan $255 million worth of conditional military assistance if it takes more action against internal terror groups launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, according to a media report.
The announcement comes over a week after President Donald Trump hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to terror groups that kill American soldiers in Afghanistan. He also warned Pakistan that it has "much to lose" by harbouring terrorists.
The Trump administration notified Congress on Wednesday that it was putting $255 million in military assistance to Pakistan into the equivalent of an escrow account that Islamabad can only access if it does more to crack down on internal terror networks launching attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan, The New York Times reported.
An escrow account is an account of conditional deposition where the funds are kept blocked until the pre-agreed conditions are met.
The move comes, at a time when the relationship between the two countries has strained.
Pakistan has cancelled at least three high profile meetings with senior American officials, including a visit of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif to the US to meet Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Pakistan National Assembly passed a resolution alleging that the recent statements of the US President and his senior officials on Pakistan were hostile and threatening.
The US, however, insists that it wants Pakistan to take action against terrorist groups.
According to the report, State Department officials have said President Trump's promised changes will bring "explicit" conditions on military aid.
"Once Pakistan more aggressively pursues the Taliban and Haqqani network, the aid will be released - a determination to be made by Secretary of State Tillerson," officials were quoted by the report as saying.
The $255 million in military assistance was the largest portion of $1.1 billion in aid authorised by Congress in 2016 that also included money for counter narcotics operations and health initiatives, the daily reported.
The US has provided Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid since 2002.
"If the State Department had failed to notify Congress in the next few weeks of its intention to spend the money, it would have been returned to the United States Treasury," it said.
Early in the day, the State Department said it wants Pakistan take decisive action against terrorist groups and safe havens.
"We value our cooperation with Pakistan and want to see it continue," a State Department spokesperson told.
"The President has been clear that we are looking to the Pakistani government to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan that are a threat to the region. It is vital to US interests that Pakistan prevent terrorist sanctuaries," the spokesperson said.
After President Trump's policy announcement last week, there has been sharp reaction from Pakistan, which has accused the US of making unjustified allegations against it.
