ISLAMABAD: Washington welcomed General Raheel Sharif's statement on Thursday to not let Pakistan be used for terrorist activities against its neighbours.

According to details, the United States welcomed the statement by General Raheel Sharif and expressed the hope that Pakistan would implement on the words of the general. Senior representatives of the White House said that General Raheel's statement was important and it remains to be seen how Pakistan would implement on his words.

Senior representatives of the Obama administration said during a press briefing that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had stated the same words before that Pakistan would not let its land be used for terrorist activities against its neighbours.

In response to a question, one senior representative stated that the presence of safe havens for terrorists in Pakistan was not a new thing. He however did say that during the past few years, Pakistan has acted against terrorist organisations and has also lost many lives in the process.

He said there still was existence of terrorists groups in Pakistan and the United States has time and again raised this issue with Islamabad and expressed its reservations over the matter.

The White House representative also said that Pakistan had guaranteed cooperation to the United States in carrying out activities against the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network. He also acknowledged that Pakistan had also taken significant steps against the above stated organizations. He said that Pakistan needed to maintain the pressure on such groups since it was in its own security interest.

The senior representative further stated that Pakistan needed to root out militancy by working closely with the United States. He further stated that the United States believed that Pakistan's support was vital to peacekeeping in Afghanistan.