Despite President Asif Ali Zardari's assertion that a Taliban insurgency, not India, was the biggest threat to Islamabad, the Pakistani Army still considers India a "threat," US' top Army official indicated.
In an interview to CBS "Face the Nation", Chairman of America's Joint Chief of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said the Pakistan Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is focused on both — the threat from India and that from internal insurgency.
"He is concerned about the focus — both the threat from India, as well as the growing threat in terms of the insurgency, and he's addressing both of those," Mullen said.
"They are actually doing pretty well. A year ago, were you and I sitting here talking about what the Pakistanis were not doing, you know, that would have been the area of focus," Mullen said when asked how the Pakistan Army was doing in its war against terrorism.
As Pakistan stepped up its offensive against militants in the restive northwest, Zardari had said Taliban was the chief threat to his country, and not India.
US has also asked Pakistan to move troops from its western border to the eastern border with Afghanistan, where most of the Taliban strongholds lie.
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Mullen said the Pakistan Army chief has got a deliberate plan and he is on his plan. "And he knows his country very well, the military leadership knows their country very well, and I think they are dealing with it," he said.
"And, in fact, they've actually made a lot of progress — taking significant military steps, had a significant impact, and moved in a positive direction," Mullen said on Pakistan's military operations.
"He (Kayani) has pushed — I mean, he's got a force focused in two different directions. He is rotating forces — not unlike us. So, he is approaching it in a measured, thorough way. It's going to take some time — oftentimes, more than we'd like to give him," Mullen said.