A top American intelligence official has said that though Pakistan has improved its co-operation with the US on counter-terrorism, it is unlikely to "fundamentally" change its approach on "certain things", in an apparent reference to Pakistan's India-centric policies.
"There has been a great improvement in their approach and their cooperation with us and their openness. But there are certain things that they probably fundamentally are not going to change, again because of what drives them," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said replying to a query at a web event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.
"In the case of the Pakistanis, penultimately what motivates their policies, to include their conduct of intelligence, is what they consider their existential threat, which is India. And so that governs a lot of what they do," Clapper said.
Clapper did not explain or elaborate on what is that Pakistan is not going to change fundamentally.
But his inference was mainly Pakistan's long standing policy of using non-state actors, terrorist groups and encouraging them to act against India.
Informed sources in Washington's think-tank said that latest intelligence information coming out from Pakistan indicate that more than 40 terrorist training camps are still running in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with the sole objective of targeting India.
"We had a very low point in our relations with Pakistan and, as a result of the Abbottabad raid in May of 2011, and since then it has gradually come up. I think the Pakistanis realize the impact of when we depart from Afghanistan and that they need to be more active and viable partner, and they are," he noted.
