US reacts to Pakistan's vision Azm-e-Istehkam

WASHINGTON: The United States (US) State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the United States supports Pakistan’s efforts against terrorism, ARY News reported.

Briefing the media in Washington on Tuesday, Matthew Miller acknowledged Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against terrorism and said many Pakistani people have suffered a lot from terrorist attacks.

“No country should have to endure such terrorism. The United States and Pakistan have a common interest in dealing with threats to regional security,” he added.

Matthew Miller said that the US supports Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism and protect its citizens.

The spokesman said that the US has a high-level dialogue with Pakistan on security issues and is working with Pakistan on funding, counter-terrorism, and capacity-building programs.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif ruled out any large-scale military operation under the vision Azm-e-Istehkam, saying that ongoing Intelligence-Based Operations (IBOs) will be intensified.

Speaking at the federal cabinet meeting called on to take the members into confidence about the prevailing ‘misunderstanding and speculations’ about the Azm-e-Istehkam, the prime minister said that instead of any large-scale operation, the already ongoing intelligence-based kinetic operations would be energised.

PM Shehbaz said that the Azm-e-Istehkam is a multi-domain and whole-of-system national vision aimed at decisively rooting out the nebulous and shadowy presence of remnants of terrorists, and violent extremism.

“A large-scale armed operation would require displacement and the initiation of such an operation under Vision Azm-i-Istehkam is merely a misunderstanding, ”he added.