Washington: Militant groups supported by Pakistan, which uses some terror outfits as ‘policy tools’, will continue to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan, according to America’s top spymaster.
Remarks by director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats came as he and heads of other top American intelligence agencies appeared Tuesday before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on their worldwide threat assessment.
Coats said Pakistan’s ‘narrow approach to counter-terrorism cooperation — using some groups as policy tools and confronting only the militant groups that directly threaten Pakistan-almost certainly will frustrate US counter-terrorism efforts against the Taliban.
“Militant groups supported by Pakistan will continue to take advantage of their safe haven in Pakistan to plan and conduct attacks in India and Afghanistan, including against US interests,” Coats told the members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Prominent among them included CIA director Gina Haspel, who has just returned from a trip to India; FBI director Christopher Wray and Defence Intelligence Agency director Robert Ashley.
The comment on South Asia is part of US intelligence community’s assessment of worldwide threats in 2019 and was presented in the form of a written document to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence by Coats.
Coats said that the challenges facing South Asian states will grow in 2019 because of Afghanistan’s presidential election in mid-July and the Taliban’s large-scale attacks, Pakistan’s recalcitrance in dealing with militant groups, and Indian elections that risk communal violence.
PTI