January 2, 2018
Trump aligns with India his policy towards Pakistan?
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali
In an apparent tilt of U.S.-Pakistan policy towards India, President Trump Monday (Jan. 1, 2018), threatened to cut financial aid to Pakistan accusing Islamabad of harboring violent extremists and lying about it.
"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools," Trump said in his first tweet of 2018.
"They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"
Commenting on Trump’s tweet, Hindustan Times said: “His comment highlighted heightened global scrutiny into Islamabad’s affairs and his administration’s visible alignment with India’s long-held stance that Pakistan is a terror hub.”
The US president's tweet came in the aftermath of an increasingly terse back-and-forth between Washington and Islamabad since Trump announced his administration's latest national security strategy in last August.
During the announcement, the US president had been quick to remind Pakistan of its 'obligation' to help America "because it receives massive payments" from Washington every year.
"We have made clear to Pakistan that while we desire continued partnership, we must see decisive action against terrorist groups operating on their territory. And we make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," the US president had said.
A Pentagon report to the US Congress, released to the media on Dec 17, had said Washington would also take 'unilateral steps' in areas of divergence with Pakistan while expanding cooperation between the two countries where their interests converge.
Subsequently, US Vice President Mike Pence had, in a surprise visit to Afghanistan's Bagram airbase on Dec 22, warned that Trump has "put Pakistan on notice" in what was the harshest US warning to Islamabad since the beginning of the Afghan war over 16 years ago.
US ambassador in Islamabad summoned over Trump’s tweet
The United States ambassador David Hale was summoned on Monday by The Foreign Office (FO) over US President Donald Trump’s tweet.
The News quoted informed sources as saying that Hale was summoned to lodge protest against Trump’s unfounded allegations on Pakistan. Though Pakistan has rendered countless sacrifices to eradicate the menace of terrorism yet The US president alleged in his tweet that Pakistan has given nothing except for “lies and deceit” in return for the aid the US provided Pakistan during 15 years, the paper added.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, in response to Trump’s tweet, said that Pakistan has already refused to ‘do more’ for the United States.
PM calls cabinet, NSC meeting to discuss Trump's statement
The Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has summoned the emergency federal cabinet and the national Security Committee (NSC) meeting on Wednesday to evolve the the strategy in wake of Trump's latest statement.
The meeting will discuss the Trumps’ anti-Pakistan statement, formulating the strategy to tackle the challenges can be faced after this new controversy, The News said.
Tillerson: Pakistan must demonstrate its desire to partner with US
Pakistan must demonstrate its desire to collaborate with the US in its fight against terrorism, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last month.
In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Tillerson reiterated what the Trump administration has been saying about Pakistan for the past several months now after President Donald Trump announced his South Asia policy in August.
Trump while announcing his South Asia Policy had criticized Pakistan for not doing enough to combat terrorism.
“Pakistan must contribute by combating terrorist groups on its own soil. We are prepared to partner with Pakistan to defeat terror organizations seeking safe havens, but Pakistan must demonstrate its desire to partner with us,” Tillerson said.
“A commitment to stop Islamist terrorism and extremism also motivated the administration’s decision to adopt a new South Asia strategy, which focuses on Afghanistan. That country cannot become a safe haven for terrorists, as it was in the days before the September 11 attacks,” he wrote as he summarized up his key diplomatic accomplishments in the first year.
‘Time for Afghanistan and US to do more for Pakistan’
On December 28, Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said: "It is time Afghanistan and the US do more for Pakistan."
Referring to the United States' (US) demands to act against the alleged presence of terrorist elements in Pakistan, Maj Gen Ghafoor clarified again that: "No organized infrastructure of any banned organization is present in Pakistan. We have fought an imposed and imported war twice in Pakistan and now we cannot do any more for anyone."
"Whatever we are doing, and we will do, is solely for the people of Pakistan. The aid we received (from the US) was reimbursement for the support we gave to the coalition for its fight against Al Qaeda. Had we not supported the US and Afghanistan, they would never have been able to defeat Al Qaeda," he added.
"There are no facilitators [of terrorist groups] in Pakistan and we have gone a long way towards supporting peace in the region," Maj Gen Ghafoor insisted, reiterating Pakistan's stance on the US's repetitive demand for the country to "do more".
Discussing measures taken by Pakistan to stop cross-border infiltration of terrorists, Ghafoor said: "We have started the construction of forts and posts on the Afghan border for effective border management — what more does the US and Afghanistan want from us?"
"No country is more interested in Afghan peace than us, as we know that peace there [Afghanistan] means peace in Pakistan," the DG ISPR stressing, adding that the US needs to check India's role in the Afghan region.
"No amount of coercion can work — it is only trust-based cooperation that can bring enduring peace to the region," he said.
"What kind of friends are we that we are being given notices [by the US]?" he asked, adding that while Pakistan Army was willing to work with its friends, it cannot compromise on its respect.
Abdus Sattar Ghazali is the Chief Editor of the Journal of America.
The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Disclaimer and Fair Use Notice: Many articles on this web site are written by independent individuals or organizations. Their opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Journal of America and its affiliates. They are put here for interest and reference only. More details
Your donation
is tax deductable.
Article by
Journal Writes