Rattled by a specific reference to Pakistan in the India-US Joint Statement issued following the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in Washington, Islamabad expressed surprise at the development on Friday, citing previous counter-terrorism cooperation with the US.

“We consider the Pakistan-specific reference in the Indo-US joint statement of Feb 13 as one-sided, misleading and contrary to diplomatic norms. We are surprised the reference has been added to the joint statement notwithstanding Pakistan’s counter-terrorism cooperation with the US,” said Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan during a weekly media briefing.

PM Modi and Trump held a comprehensive discussion about the “global scourge of terrorism” and underlined the need to destroy terrorist safe havens around the world.

“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved. The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks,” read the Joint Statement issued after the meeting.

Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-origin businessman, is accused of providing material assistance to Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba in the 2008 Mumbai bombings, which murdered 166 people, six of them Americans. He has been linked to Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, a key conspirator in the attacks, and is also suspected of having intimate ties to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The statement mentioned both leaders’ joint resolve and commitment to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups such as Al-Qa’ida, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on November 26th and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26th of 2021.

Both leaders also vowed to work together to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, as well as to deny terrorists and non-state actors access to these weapons.
As Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump announced plans to pursue new procurements and co-production arrangements for ‘Javelin’ Anti-Tank Guided Missiles and ‘Stryker’ Infantry Combat Vehicles in India, as well as accelerate defence technology cooperation across space, air defense, missile, maritime, and undersea technologies, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry expressed concern about the deepening India-US defense partnership across multiple domains.

“Pakistan is also deeply concerned over the planned transfer of military technology to India. Such steps accentuate military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability. They remain unhelpful in achieving durable peace in South Asia,” said Shafqat Ali Khan.