Gates urges Pakistan to expand crackdown on 'common enemies'

Gates, making his first trip to this country in three years, said he would try to persuade Pakistani military and civilian leaders that they need to crack down on all factions of the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups. For years, Pakistan has been reluctant to take action against fighters crossing into Afghanistan and India as long as the fighters don’t cause trouble domestically.

“The reality [is] that you can’t ignore one part of this cancer and pretend it that won’t have some impact closer to home,” he told reporters. “We have common enemies on both sides of the border. We are interested in an even closer working relationship with the Pakistanis to go after these common enemies.”