You can't keep snakes in your backyard and expect them to only bite your neighbour: Clinton

US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton continued to tough talk with Pakistan, saying that it was imperative that the country did more to eliminate safe havens for extremism in the interest of the world and the Pakistani people. [caption id=“attachment_113521” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“US Secretary of state Hillary Clinton continued to tough talk with Pakistan. AFP”] [/caption] Addressing the media in a joint press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, Clinton also underscored the importance of Pakistan cooperating to build a strong and stable Afghanistan. She said it was imperative that the core group of Pakistan, Afghanistan and India was restarted and that Pakistan did more to eliminate safe havens of the Haqqani network that has been launching attacks in Afghanistan. “You can’t keep snakes in your backyard and expect them to only bite your neighbor,” she said. She added that it was highly important that all political parties in Pakistan supported these efforts. Clinton also stated that the US appreciated the sacrifice made by thousands of Pakistani people, but said that thousands of Americans and Afghans had also died, which was why it was so important for the countries to work together. She emphasized the point that this process needed to be backed by all political parties in Afghanistan. Clinton however also reiterated US support for a strong Pakistan and said that they would continue to give the country billions of dollars in aid for development. However she said that it was up to Pakistan’s leaders to eliminate issues like corruption, ensure accountability and build more trust building measures to ensure that these benefits reached the people. She also welcomed the normalization of trade ties between India and Pakistan. Meanwhile Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, said that Pakistan was fully committed to fighting terror and emphasized the country’s commitment to a peaceful and stable Afghanistan. “No country has more to lose from an unstable Afghanistan than Pakistan”, she said. Khar added that it was in the national interests of both Pakistan and the US that they maintain friendly ties and said that Pakistan would do its utmost to combat terror on their side of the border in the interest of their own protection and regional stability.