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Following the US decision to designate the Pakistan-based Haqqani network as a terrorist organisation, a Pakistani daily has said the country should now root out the terror group as it has no place in a progressive society. The editorial in the Daily Times said that the longer Pakistan shelters the Haqqanis, the more the chances that they will help the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hit the country to maximum effect. It said that Pakistan should move with the world, not against it. The US's designation of the Haqqani network as a terrorist group was not unexpected. The U.S. State Department's intent was telegraphed ahead, aimed as much at limiting the network's funding and alleged support for it from the Pakistani military establishment, it said. No doubt Islamabad expected this development, and must have thought out appropriate responses in the near two years this issue gestated in the US Congress. Yet it chooses to stick to its usual ambiguity, its initial response terming it an "internal American matter", it added. Internal or not, the Haqqanis are housed in Pakistani territory, which will invite sanctions if not checked, it further added. Despite Islamabad's repeated denials, there is enough in its hosting of the Haqqanis, and tolerating their border incursions, to suggest active support for the group. However much such strategy might have been profitable in the past, continuing with it in the present circumstances is clearly counter-productive for Pakistan, and the larger war effort, the editorial said. The prospect of finally ditching the Haqqanis seems to unsettle elements in the deep state is more a reflection of policy inertia rather than serious strategic or tactical thinking, it said.

Time for Pakistan to root out Haqqani network: Editorial