Washington:
In yet another instance of America's heightened rhetoric on Pakistan, US President Barack Obama has said Pakistan has realised that it is not India but the "cancer" of terrorism emanating from its own territory that is its primary concern.
President Obama was speaking at a joint press conference with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in Washington.
In an apparent reference to the unearthing of recent terrorist plots in the US having its footprints in Pakistan, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said that Al-Qaida and the Taliban continue to plot from the Af-Pak border region.
As such Obama reiterated his resolve to dismantle, disrupt and defeat the extremist network in the region.
"Whether Afghanistan succeeds in this effort will have consequences for the United States and consequences for the entire world.
As we've seen in recent plots here in the United States, Al-Qaida and its extremist allies continue to plot in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a growing Taliban insurgency could mean an even larger safe haven for Al-Qaida and its affiliates," Obama said.
At a joint White House press availability with the visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Obama said, "So today we are reaffirming our shared goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al-Qaida and its extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan and to prevent its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future."
Noting that there are many difficult days ahead in Afghanistan, Obama said, "We face a determined and ruthless enemy, but we go forward with confidence because we have something that our adversaries do not: We have a commitment to seek a future of justice and peace and opportunity for the Afghan people. We have the courage and resolve of men and women from Afghanistan and our international coalition who are determined to help Afghans realise that future."
Obama further said, "President Karzai agrees that we have to deal with the extremists that are disrupting life in Afghanistan. Our strategic approach has been entirely consistent."
The US President said he and Karzai agreed that they can't win through a military strategy alone; that they are going to have to make sure that they have effective governance, capacity-building, economic development in order for them to succeed. (With PTI inputs)