ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator and former Interior Minister Rehman Malik, while responding to United States (US) President Donald Trump’s statement on Tuesday, said that such statements by US officials can create a vacuum in Pak-US relations and affect the war against terrorism.
Rehman Malik said that Donald Trump seemed to be highly misinformed as the factual position was that the request for assistance in war against terrorism was made by US to Pakistan, which was accepted by Pakistan as a friendly gesture.
He said that Pakistan had not deceived the United States in any way. “The war on terror has destroyed our peace, infrastructure and economy, along with destroying more than 75,000 lives,” he said.
The PPP senator said that US must remember that survival of Pakistan was never dependent on US aid, as Pakistan had lost a total of $188 billion due to this war. He also said that US still owed Pakistan $155 billion. He added that fair calculation indicated that US still owed a large amount of money to Pakistan and the country had the right to ask for this amount.
Rehman Malik also said that if Trump continued to bash his friends, then no country in the world would trust US friendship. I have witnessed the dedication of the Pakistani armed forces in the war against terrorism, he added.
