Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that Islamabad’s alliance with Washington is over. The minister’s statement came one day after the United States (US) announced the suspension of all military aid to Pakistan.
During an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Asif said that Pakistan had suspended its alliance with US, adding that their behaviour was unbecoming of an ally.
Last week, the US administration under President Donald Trump had suspended all military assistance to Pakistan, amounting to $225 million, until it took decisive action against terrorist groups, including the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network. The US also suspended the transfer of military equipment and other funds to Islamabad.
“Today, we can confirm that we are suspending security assistance only to Pakistan at this time,” US Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert had disclosed in a press briefing.
Meanwhile, Asif said that the process of continuation of US-Pakistan relations was at great risk, especially after President Trump warned Islamabad to “do more” against terrorists who the US alleged were holed up in Pakistan. He said that the country had committed a great mistake by becoming a party to US military campaign in Afghanistan in 2001, by terming the move a “huge mistake”.
Relations between the two former allies in the war on terror plummeted last week after Trump targeted Pakistan in a tweet, saying that Pakistan had given the US only ‘lies and deceit’.
In the rocky relationship shared by the US and Pakistan, the former had continuously accused the latter of harbouring terrorists responsible for killing American soldiers in neighbouring Afghanistan. On the other hand, Islamabad had maintained that the US had consistently failed to acknowledge Pakistan’s role in neutralising the threat of Al-Qaeeda in the region and sacrificing thousands of lives in the war on terror.
In addition, Islamabad had also grown suspicious of the close ties being developed between the US and India, especially over India’s growing role in the Afghanistan peace process. These developments pushed Pakistan away from the US war efforts in the neighbouring country and brought it closer to China.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that the US considered Pakistan a “whipping boy” for its failures in the Afghan war. He said that Pakistan’s interference in Afghanistan’s affairs at this point in time would create a situation where the Afghan war would overflow into Pakistan’s territories, while adding that such conditions would only suit US interests in the region.
On the other hand, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said that they were continuing working relations with Pakistan, adding that aid would be restored to Pakistan if they made visible efforts regarding taking stern action against all terrorist outfits in its backyard. He also said that he was not concerned about Pakistan cutting off US supply routes to Afghanistan.
Last year, Khawaja Asif had secured the support of China, Iran, Russia and Turkey on Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy that revolves around holding peace talks with the Taliban.
It merits mention here that shortly after Trump’s New Year tweet, China showed its support for Pakistan by saying that it was “ready to promote and deepen our cooperation” with Pakistan.
George Bush had termed Pakistan the best ally, a country that stood by USA at hard times. We suffered most in this USA branded terror war and this is how we are paid in return.
Comments are closed.