Over the concern on initial indications that the Uri terror attack emanated from Pakistan, two influential US Senators called on Islamabad to fully cooperate with India to bring to justice the perpetrators.

Democrat John Cornyn and Republican Mark Warner said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that, “We are greatly concerned about initial indications that the perpetrators of this attack were Pakistani and that the attack emanated from Pakistan. If true, this attack would be just the latest in a series of deadly attacks in India conducted by Pakistan-based terrorist groups.”

They also called on Pakistan to cooperate fully with India to bring to justice perpetrators of the Uri attack at an army base in Jammu and Kashmir in which 18 soldiers were killed.

The Hindu reported, the two Senators wrote in the letter, that, “We call on the Government of Pakistan to cooperate fully and transparently in this investigation and prosecute any individuals within its territory that participated in this horrendous attack.”

“Pakistan’s possible involvement in this attack underscores our broader concern about Pakistan’s use of terrorism as a pillar of its foreign policies toward Afghanistan and India,” the Senators wrote in the letter to express their support for India and strongly condemn the Uri attack.
“As many credible experts have noted, such groups as the Haqqani network, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Mohammad still operate freely in Pakistan, launching attacks not only on India but also on US personnel and interests in Afghanistan.”

“That such terrorist groups continue to operate within Pakistan is unacceptable, and we will work within Congress to pressure Pakistan to end any association with these terrorist groups targeting India, put a stop to their cross-border incursions, and take active and immediate steps to reign in homegrown terrorists,” they wrote.

“The continued threat of terrorism that both India and the US face highlights the critical need to ensure that we continue to expand US-India bilateral defence, intelligence and counter-terrorism cooperation,” the letter said.

“Similarly, we are pleased by the finalisation of an arrangement to facilitate the sharing of terrorist screening information and the progress made by the US—India Counter-terrorism Joint Working Group and the Homeland Security Dialogue. We will continue to support these and other initiatives that will increase US partnership with India against terrorism,” Mr. Cornyn and Mr. Warner said.

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Nandini