By IANS,
New Delhi : Describing terrorism and extremism as the “number one challenge”, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Monday said she had seen “real commitment” by Pakistan to fight terrorism and made a pitch for dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.
“Combating terrorism and extremism is our number one challenge. It is is something that I take very personally as I was there (in New York) when we were attacked in 2001,” Clinton told nearly 1,000 students who had gathered to listen to her at the Delhi University’s convention hall.
“Much of what I have worked in public life in last many years is to avoid another attack on us and anyone else.”
A day after she described Pakistan as the home of a “global syndicate of terrorism”, Clinton reinforced the US’ assessment that there is a change in Islamabad’s approach towards terrorism.
“We have to look for many ways to support those standing against extremism and I said several times that all through six months we have been in office I have seen a real commitment on the part of the Pakistani government and Pakistani people on taking on extremism that’s threatening them and others,” Clinton said.
“It’s their hotels being bombed up, their police being killed, their people beheaded and mistreated.
“So anything we can do to try and convey support for those standing against extremism is part of my mission and our country’s mission,” she said.
Clinton, who stayed at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel in Mumbai to express solidarity with 26/11 Mumbai attack victims before coming to New Delhi, stressed that the US had a stake in expanding cooperation with India in the area of counter-terrorism.
“In countries like India who have such a stake to end terrorism and extremism… that has been faced by generation of Indians.”
During her five-day visit to India, Clinton has repeatedly asked Pakistan to bring 26/11 attackers to justice, but at the same stressed the commitment of the current dispensation in Islamabad to combat terrorism. These remarks are seen as veiled persuasion by Washington to nudge New Delhi to resume dialogue with Islamabad.
Clinton used an analogy from the Cold War to underscore her point about the need for continuous conversation between nations despite hostility and differences in ideology.
“When I was growing up, the Soviet Union and Communism was as scary to us as terrorism and extremism is today. We have this sense of the wrong we have nothing to do with them they have nothing to do with us.
“But our leaders never stopped talking, they went to summits, our diplomats got engaged to look for ways to avoid nuclear wars or other incidents,” Clinton said.
“So I am a big believer in talking, that doesn’t mean you give (up) your principles, your values, your safety and security but through talking perhaps progress can be made.”
Clinton stressed on the need for expanding people-to-people contacts in the South Asian context.
“I hope we find new and creative ways to enhance people-to-people connect in this region, some of them through organisations, some of them through businesses and some of them through academics. I believe in it very strongly and I think it holds great promise.”
In a joint statement at Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement summit July 16, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani agreed to cooperate in countering terrorism by sharing information, but New Delhi deferred a decision on resuming composite dialogue with Islamabad, saying it will depend on future developments.