Pakistan's "use" of militant groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba for policy goals "cannot continue", US President Barack Obama has warned Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in a two-page letter.
The Washington Post, which reported that such a letter had been sent earlier in the month, called it "unusually blunt". However, it also offered Islamabad a number of incentives including an offer to "reduce tensions" between India and Pakistan.
Washington has been trying to piece together a new grand bargain with Islamabad. Its key demand is that Pakistan recognise it cannot be both an ally in the "war on terror" and at the same time, support Islamic militant groups that are fighting India and Afghanistan. If Pakistan falls in line, Obama has offered a greater amount of US economic military assistance.
Obama said Pakistan needed to end the "ambiguity" in its relations with five militant groups : Al Qaeda, Afghan Taliban, Haqqani Network, Lashkar e Tayyeba and the Tehreek e Taliban. The inclusion of Lashkar, a group that until 26/11 had avoided attacking US targets, is a gesture towards the militant group's main target, India. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told Obama during his recent state visit that Pakistan was selective in taking on terrorist groups - that it was leaving Lashkar alone.
The letter, say Obama's officials is designed to push US-Pakistan relations in a new direction. Without this change the US is "not going to win in Afghanistan" which, in turn, means "Pakistan will automatically be imperiled."
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