The United States (US) Army has spelled out two things it wants Pakistan to do: de-link the Pakistan-based Taliban leaders from their cadres in Afghanistan and force them to participate in peace talks, Dawn reported on October 8. General Joseph L. Votel, commander, US Central Command (Centcom), explained the two points while commenting on Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s recent visit to Washington at a Pentagon news briefing this weekend. As Centcom chief, General Votel is directly responsible for the US-led war in Afghanistan, which also includes stopping the alleged cross-border attacks from Pakistan. Centcom chief says fighters must not be allowed to move into Pakistan to get aid. “And they need to do that by making absolutely sure that there are no instructions, direction, other things coming from Taliban leadership that remains in Pakistan to their fighters on the ground,” he said. “They need to ensure that there can be no movement back and forth and that fighters can’t come back into Pakistan to get aid or medical care or other things with that.” The Pakistanis also “need to use their influence with the Taliban to force the Taliban leadership to come to the table,” he added.