US General: Pak ‘phenomenal ally’ in anti-terror ops

A top US military commander has said Pakistan has been a "phenomenal partner" in anti-terrorism operations and has suggested to a legislative committee in his country on the need for having a relationship with both India and Pakistan.

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Gen Michael E Kurilla, commander of the US Central Command, was appearing before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington DC on June 10 when he batted for Pakistan.

The remarks come at a time when India has gone all out to highlight Pakistan’s support for cross-border terrorism in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack in April.

In his testimony before the committee, General Kurilla lauded the role of the Pakistan military and army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, in combating the ISIS-Khorasan. He said, “That’s why we need… to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India. I do not believe it is a binary switch that we can’t have one with Pakistan if we have a relationship with India.”

“They are in an active counter-terrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism,” the US military commander said.

There was no immediate response to Kurilla’s comments from Indian officials, though this hyphenation of India and Pakistan is what is being vehemently opposed by New Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had in Brussels on Tuesday said India’s conflict was with ‘Terroristan’.

Meanwhile, at the hearing in Washington, General Kurilla noted that the ISIS-K, based in Afghanistan, was one of the most active terrorist groups involved in “external plots globally”, including against the US.

The Afghan Taliban have gone after the ISIS-K and pushed a lot of the group’s fighters into tribal areas on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

He said Pakistan had gone after the ISIS-K, killing dozens of its men. “They have captured at least five high-value ISIS-K individuals,” General Kurilla argued before the US committee.

Pakistan extradited Mohammad Sharifullah, alias Jafar, one of the key individuals behind a suicide attack at the Kabul airport in August 2021 that killed 13 American military personnel during the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan.

Lauding the role of Field Marshal, Munir, Kurilla added that he was the first person Pakistan's then chief of army staff Munir had called and had said, "I’ve caught him, I’m willing to extradite him back to the US, please tell the Secretary of Defence and the President".

The US General also told the committee that Pakistan had witnessed some 1,000 terrorist attacks since the start of 2024, which killed about 700 security personnel and 2,500 civilians.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has questioned the government over the US military commander statement.

"The US Central Command chief has just described Pakistan as a 'phenomenal partner in counter-terrorism'. What do our PM and his cheerleaders have to say about this? Is this not a diplomatic setback?", Ramesh posted on X.