In an op-ed in Pakistan's The News written to coincide with his arrival in that country, Gates said:

"It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaida, so it is impossible to separate these groups."

Noting his visit was to develop a broader strategic dialogue on the link between Afghanistan's stability and that of Pakistan as also the stability in the broader region, Gates said safe havens for "either Taliban" on either side of the border would in the long run lead to more deadly attacks in both nations as have already happened.

"Maintaining a distinction between some violent extremist groups and others is counterproductive. Only by pressuring all of these groups on both sides of the border will Afghanistan and Pakistan be able to rid themselves of this scourge for good," Gates wrote.

Speaking in India prior to visiting Pakistan, Gates warned the "syndicate" of the extremist groups working with al-Qaida in the border regions seeks to "destabilize not just Afghanistan, not just Pakistan, but potentially the whole region," including India by provoking an Indo-Pakistan war. The two countries have fought three wars since 1947 and both now have nuclear weapons.

India-Pakistan relations have worsened since the Mumbai terrors attacks last November, blamed on the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group.

Gates said India had been patient after the Mumbai attacks but indicated it may not show the same restraint if a similar attack were to occur again.

Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony seemed to endorse Gates' assessment as New Delhi insists Pakistan thus far has neither punished those responsible for the Mumbai attacks nor dismantled the terror structure on its soil, the Times of India reported.

Seven persons suspected in the Mumbai attacks are currently in Pakistani custody but legal proceedings are yet to be completed.

"I also told him (Gates) that our people are becoming impatient," Antony was quoted as saying about his meeting with the U.S. official. "So you please advise Pakistan … Almost all these terrorist outfits are operating across the border and they are still very active."

Any new hostilities between India and Pakistan on their eastern borders could upset the Afghan strategy of U.S. President Barack Obama who has ordered an additional 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The strategy requires Pakistani cooperation by having its forces go after the militants in the Afghan border region and not get diverted to the Indian border region.

But Gates on his trip could not get Pakistan to agree to widen its current campaign in the tribal regions of South Waziristan to North Waziristan where the leaders of the Taliban and other terror groups involved in attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan have their sanctuaries.

Pakistani military spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said it would be six months to a year before the overstretched forces could launch any new campaign such as in North Waziristan, Dawn newspaper reported.

The newspaper said Abbas' comments clearly indicated Pakistan would not be pressured in the near term to widen its military's current campaign. U.S. officials have said the South Waziristan campaign only targets those responsible for violence inside the country, and not those using their Pakistani sanctuaries to attack coalition forces across the border.

U.S. military officials, concerned about their Afghan strategy, expressed frustration over Abbas' announcement as the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network, based in North Waziristan, stages attacks on Afghanistan from there, The New York Times reported.

The tribal region is also the hideout for Pakistani Taliban militants fleeing South Waziristan.

What surprised U.S. officials was the Pakistani army announced its decision even before Gates had left the country, the Times reported. Some officials said they were worried it would only help the militants with their planning.

Gates' statements about New Delhi showing restraint post-Mumbai also did not go well in Pakistan.

Dawn, quoting a source, said Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in talks with Gates said: "Pakistan is itself facing Mumbai-like attacks almost every other day and when we cannot protect our own citizens, how can we guarantee that there wouldn't be any more terrorist hits in India," Gilani was quoted as telling Gates.

Separately in an editorial, Dawn said Gates' argument was "flawed" in that Pakistan, which may have sponsored militant groups in the past, "now has its hands full battling the uncontrollable monster it created." It also said Gates' statement seemed to sidestep "the mutual annihilation that a war between Pakistan and India would all but assure."

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