The White House confirmed Tuesday that the United States (US) has blocked an already-delayed $255 million military aid to Pakistan.
The US decision to stop aid to Pakistan came only a day after President Donald Trump shared a tweet in which he took a harsh stand against Pakistan by terming Islamabad’s alliance with the US in the war against terrorism as “nothing but lies and deceit”.
National Security Council spokesperson said, “The US does not plan to spend the $225 million in fiscal year 2016 foreign military financing for Pakistan at this time.”
The spokesperson also said that the US president had given a clear message to Pakistan to take a strong and decisive action against militant networks in its own backyard.
Earlier, the White House spokesperson said, “Pakistan’s support of the South Asia Strategy will ultimately determine the nature of our relationship, including future security assistance.” The US administration would keep a close eye on Pakistan’s cooperation in matters pertaining to security, he added.
In his new year tweet, President Trump had said that the US foolishly provided $33 billion aid to Pakistan in the last 15 years.
He also levelled allegations against Pakistan for providing shelter to terrorists that fled US military operations in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Trump’s statement was heavily criticised by officials in Pakistan, after which the country summoned US Ambassador David Hale to provide an explanation over the tweet.
Commenting on Trump’s tweet, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that the US president’s tweet did not carry any weight as Pakistan had already refused to ‘do more’ for the US’s misadventure in Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan would share the details of the US aid with the entire world to reveal the truth of the matter.
A meeting between the country’s top civilian and military leadership was ongoing to discuss Trump’s accusations against Pakistan and to evolve a strategy to deal with the situation at hand.