She said the US has made it clear that it wants a long term relationship with Pakistan based on common interests including a mutual recognition that they cannot tolerate a safe haven for terrorists anywhere and when we know the location of terrorists whose intentions are clear and need to work together in order to prevent those terrorists from taking innocent lives and threatening institutions of state.
Both Krishna and Clinton also underscored the importance of elimination of terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan for regional stability and security and for Pakistan's future, according to a joint statement after the meeting. The US secretary of state said Pakistan was a "key ally" in the fight against terrorism and that the US has made the point repeatedly to its Pakistani colleagues that terrorists threaten both of them. "We recognise that Pakistan must act on its own behalf first and foremost to protect its own territory and sovereignty and to protect the lives of the people of Pakistan," she said.
At a joint press conference with Krishna, she said in the aftermath of the attacks of 2008 in Mumbai, the US had made it very clear that there was an absolute international responsibility to cooperate to bring the perpetrators to justice. The US has made that equally forcefully clear to Pakistan that it has a special obligation to do so transparently, fully and urgently, Clinton said. "And it is US policy, we believe the perpetrators need to be brought to justice and have urged Pakistan to do so. Obviously, there is a limit to what both the US and India can do but we intend to continue to press as hard as possible," she said.
Asserting that it has been made clear to Pakistan that confronting violent extremism of all sorts is in its interest, Clinton said, "We do not believe that there are any terrorists who should be given safe haven or a free pass by any government, because left unchecked the consequences of that kind of terrorist activity or intimidation can become very difficult to manage and control."
Admitting that counter-terrorism was "first and foremost" on its minds after last week's Mumbai bomb blasts, the US on Tuesday pledged "full" support to India's efforts to protect itself from terror attacks, and said it will press Pakistan as "hard" as it can on terror. After the second round of Indo-US strategic dialogue with her counterpart external affairs minister S M Krishna, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pointed out that the issue of homeland security and counter-terrorism was given a special emphasis, saying both sides were exploring ways to protect the two countries from the scourge of terrorism.
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