Is this not a diplomatic setback, asks Cong after top US general hails ties with Pak

New Delhi: With a top US general calling Pakistan a "phenomenal partner" in the counterterrorism world, the Congress on Wednesday asked what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to say about this and whether it is not a "diplomatic setback".

US Army General Michael Kurilla, Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), has said the United States has to have a relationship with Pakistan and with India, and noted that it cannot be a "binary switch" where Washington cannot have ties with Islamabad if it has relations with New Delhi.

Kurilla made the comments during a testimony before the US House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

Pakistan is "in an active counterterrorism fight right now and they have been a phenomenal partner in the counterterrorism world", the general said.

Sharing a media report on Kurilla's remarks, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "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 said on X.

In his remarks, Kurilla said, "We have 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." "We should look at the merits of the relationship for the positives that it has," he said.

"ISIS Khorasan (ISIS K) is perhaps one of the most active in trying to do external plots globally to include against the homeland. The Taliban is going after ISIS K - they hate each other, and have pushed a lot of them into the tribal areas on the Afghan-Pakistan border," he said at the full Committee Hearing on 'US Military Posture and National Security Challenges AFRICOM + CENTCOM.' "Through a phenomenal partnership with Pakistan, they have gone after ISIS Khorasan, killing dozens of them. Through a relationship we have with them providing intelligence, they have captured at least five ISIS Khorasan high value individuals," the top US general said.

Kurilla's comments came days after an all-party Indian parliamentary delegation visited the US to convey India's strong resolve to combat terrorism emanating from Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives.