Lisa Curtis, a South Asian expert with a pro-India leaning is set to become a top level official in President Donald Trump’s national security staff advisor’s office. Lisa Curtis, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C., has been tapped by National Security Adviser Herbert R. McMaster, to take up the position as senior director for South and Central Asia. Curtis has accepted and is currently being vetted.
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With the departure of McMaster’s predecessor Gen. Michael T. Flynn, under a cloud, the new Trump advisor is looking for a think-tank world, rather than military intelligence types, to fill key positions.
In numerous interviews, Curtis has made clear that Pakistan is a harbor for alleged terrorists and a flashpoint for conflict. In her most recent interview, Curtis had said “Pakistan is part of the global terrorism problem. ”
Curtis opined. “If they remain committed to Afghanistan, then the Trump administration will have to adopt a tougher policy toward Pakistan,” she said, especially as it applies to providing sanctuary to terrorists, some of whom attack India. “They will have to toughen the demand that Pakistan crack down on terrorists,” Curtis said.
She also added that both Defense Secretary James Mattis and the current head of CENTCOM, Gen. Joseph Votel, have indicated that the relationship with Pakistan will continue as is. There is little chance of following up on a demand by a few U.S. lawmakers that Pakistan be listed as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” Curtis added.
Curtis have wide ranging experience in different parts of government – as an analyst at the CIA, an adviser to the State Department during the George W. Bush presidency and on Capitol Hill at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
A White House official had said that, Curtis’ appointment among others, “… is going to give us significant person-power in an area where we need it.”
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Curtis will be the only senior official appointed in the Trump administration till now, who deals with the South Asia region. There’s no assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs in the State Department after Nisha Desai Biswal vacated the post and no Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is also no assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Pentagon.
By Premji
