The president-elect has made numerous statements on Pakistan but most have been in passing and don’t necessarily hint at an unfavourable policy shift towards Pakistan. But who knows with Donald. Here are the things he said:
-Pakistan-India relations-
Trump’s election has Pakistanis wary that he may accelerate what they see as a shift in American policy to favour arch-foe India in the long rivalry between nuclear-armed neighbours, analysts said on Wednesday.
Donald Trump has hinted at playing the role of a “mediator or arbitrator” in appeasing the current flare-up of tensions between India and Pakistan. “If it was necessary I would do that. If we could get India and Pakistan getting along, I would be honoured to do that. That would be a tremendous achievement… I think if they wanted me to, I would love to be the mediator or arbitrator,” Trump said in response to a question during an exclusive interview with the Hindustan Times.
-Pakistan welcomes Trump offer to make peace with India-
“If I’m elected president, the Indian and Hindu community will have a true friend in the White House, that I can guarantee you,” said Trump at an event sponsored by the Republican Hindu Coalition to raise money for victims of terrorism. “We will defeat radical ‘Islamic terrorism” when I’m president. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with India in sharing intelligence and keep our people safe mutually,” he added.
-Pakistan’s nuclear weapons-
Donald Trump said in March that Pakistan is a vital country for the United States because it has nuclear weapons.
“Pakistan is a very very vital problem and really vital country for us because they have nuclear weapons and they have to get a hold of the situation,” he said while being interviewed by CNNanchor Anderson Cooper.
He also told Fox News in May he would favour keeping nearly 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan “because it’s adjacent and right next to Pakistan which has nuclear weapons.”
-Comment on Pakistan harbouring terrorists-
In July 2012, Trump tweeted, “When will Pakistan apologise to us for providing a safe sanctuary to Osama Bin Laden for 6 years?! Some “ally.”
The tweet was a reference to the discovery of bin Laden in the infamous 2011 raid on the al Qaeda leader’s compound in Pakistan that left him dead.
-Tweet after Lahore blast-
Following the suicide blast in Lahore which killed 74 people, Trump simply tweeted that he “alone can solve.”
He later explained his tweet in an interview with CNN; “When I see they [the attackers] put it [the bomb] in a park and there were mostly Christians although many others were killed … I think it is absolutely a horrible story.”
-Pull-back on aid-
In 2011, NDTV reported that Trump had called for an urgent pull-back on aid to Pakistan unless it demolishes its nuclear arsenal. He ardently said, “They are not friends of ours.” He went on to add, “(There are) plenty of other terrorists in Pakistan, we know that.”
-Khizr and Ghazala Khan-
When Pakistani-American Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim US soldier killed in Iraq, accused Donald Trump of vilifying patriotic American Muslims while sacrificing nothing himself, Trump responded with a suggestion that Khan’s wife, Ghazala, who stood at her husband’s side during the speech and said nothing, was not ‘allowed’ to speak.
-People with roots in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia pose threat to the US-
In June, Donald Trump said people with roots in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia pose threats to the United States.
Pointing to specific incidents such as September 11, 2001, attacks, Trump said threats were posed by people with roots in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia.
Defending his immigration ban, he said it would last until “we are in a position to properly screen these people coming into our country. “They’re pouring in, and we don’t know what we’re doing,” he had said
you porkkies are good for nothing……born to be terrorists, liars and hypocrites. You lot are not Muslims! May allah strike down Pakistan……insha allah.
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