Here's how US can end Pak's double standards on terror in just 6 steps

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United States President Donald Trump's latest broadside against Pakistan to mend its ways on the matter of giving state support to terror elements on its soil and elsewhere, or risk facing severe financial penalties and other punitive measures, needs to be backed up by action, feels a former American envoy to Afghanistan and the United Nations.

In an article written for the website nationalinterest.org, former Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad categorically states that "Since 9/11, Pakistan has consistently played a double game, providing just enough sporadic assistance in capturing members of Al Qaeda and logistical support for our (American) forces to give an impression of helpfulness, while at the same time harboring, training, and assisting violent extremist groups such as the Taliban and the Haqqani Network that have killed thousands of American, Coalition, and Afghan soldiers and an even greater number of innocent Afghan civilians."

Accusing Islamabad of following a "duplicitous policy" and maintaining that this has been the single most important factor preventing success against terror elements in Afghanistan, Ambassador Khalilzad suggests that six important steps need to be taken to end Islamabad's support for terrorists and insurgents to reduce the threat in and from the region, contain the pernicious violence and achieve the negotiated settlement of conflict in Afghanistan.

These are as follows:

First, sanction the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and individual Pakistanis who are involved in supporting insurgents and terrorists, including bans for them and their family members on travel to the United States and freezing of financial assets. US intelligence agencies have the ability to identify everyone playing a role in Pakistan's pro-terrorist programs, including senior officials. The United States should also designate key figures as supporters of terrorism. Washington should end Pakistan's status as a major non-NATO ally, a designation that provides benefits such as preferential access for military technology and sales. We should also suspend all military assistance including military support funds.

Second, undertake unilateral US military strikes on insurgent targets in Pakistani territory. While the United States has targeted Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban with drone and other strikes, it has only on rare occasions attacked insurgents operating against the Coalition and Afghanistan. This has given such groups a free hand.

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