- Donald Trump’s defence secretary arrived in Pakistan for vital anti-terror talks
- He arrived at an air force base in Rawalpindi before heading to the US embassy
- Mattis visit comes days after Mumbai attack suspect released without charge
Donald Trump’s defence secretary landed in Pakistan today as the US attempts to pressure its ally crack down on terrorist safe havens – just days after Pakistani authorities released one of the alleged masterminds behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis arrived at an air force base in the city of Rawalpindi, which borders the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, before heading to the US embassy.
Mattis is set to hold talks with prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and the powerful military chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during his brief stop over.
Mattis says he’s ready to listen during his trip to Pakistan
It is the 67-year-old’s first visit to the country as defence secretary and comes amid fraying tensions between the US and Pakistan. America has urged its longtime ally to do more in the battle to stop insurgents allegedly using bases in Pakistan’s tribal belt to target NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Relations suffered a further blow when a Pakistani court released the firebrand cleric Hafiz Saeed, who is alleged to have been one of the masterminds of the Mumbai attack which killed 164 people and six US citizens.
The internationally recognised terrorist helped co-found the Jamaat-ud-Dawa group and has a $10 million bounty on his head – yet he was released from his house arrest after a court said there was no evidence of Saeed’s role in the deadly Indian massacre.
It comes at the same time that the military has been accused of helping to broker a deal which is said to pander to a small group of Islamist hardliners – which proves that little is being done to stop extremists, critics claim.
Trump launched a scathing attack on Pakistan earlier this year, claiming that the government was harbouring ‘agents of chaos’ during a speech in August.
This forced a number of high profile diplomatic meetings between the two nations, yet it appears that Washington has been left frustrated by the progress of the talks.
US General John Nicholson said Islamabad had not carried out the ‘clear’ demands made by Washington, but Mattis said he would be willing to do ‘some listening’ when meeting with his counterparts.
When quizzed on if he would ‘prod’ Islamabad to take more action, he said: ‘That’s not the way I deal with issues. I believe that we work hard on finding the common ground, and then we work together, so that’s the approach I want to take.’
Kuwaiti Army Chief of Staff General Lieutenant Mohammad al-Khodhr (C-R) receiving US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Khaled al-Sabah (right) shaking hands with US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis following a meeting in Kuwait City