Pakistan can and must do more to dismantle terrorist networks: Obama.

NEW DELHI:
US President Barack Obama has urged Pakistan to
show it is "serious" about crushing extremist
networks operating on its territory, saying the latest
mass killing of students underlined the need for
more decisive action.
In an interview with the Press Trust of India
published on Sunday, Obama praised recent
crackdowns by Pakistani security forces but said
more should be done to eradicate violent groups.
"Pakistan has an opportunity to show that it is
serious about delegitimising, disrupting and
dismantling terrorist networks," Obama told the
news agency in Washington. "In the region and around the world, there must be
zero tolerance for safe havens and terrorists must be
brought to justice."
Twenty-one people were killed last Wednesday in an
attack at a university campus in Charsada which was
claimed by a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban
Pakistan, barely a year after a massacre at a school in
Peshawar that killed more than 150 people.
Obama said the crackdown on extremists was "the
right policy" but was quoted as saying that Pakistan
"can and must" take more effective action.
"Since then (Peshawar), we have seen Pakistan take
action against several specific groups," said Obama.
"We have also seen continued terrorism inside
Pakistan such as the recent attack on the university in
northwest Pakistan."India has blamed gunmen belonging to the militant
group Jaish-e-Mohammed for an attack on one of its
air force bases close to the Pakistan border earlier
this month that left seven soldiers dead.
Obama said that attack in Punjab was "another
example of the inexcusable terrorism that India has
endured for too long".
The attack came only days after Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had paid his first visit to
Pakistan, dropping in for talks with his counterpart
Nawaz Sharif on his way home from Afghanistan.
Modi has resisted pressure to put ties with Pakistan
back in deep freeze after the air base attack, and
Obama endorsed the continuation of contacts.
"Both leaders are advancing a dialogue on how to
confront violent extremism and terrorism across the
region," Obama said.
Read more: Extremism , Obama , taliban