Defence minister says US froze, not stopped, Pakistan’s support under CSF

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  • Dastgir says no written agreement exists between Islamabad, Washington for intelligence sharing

RAWALPINDI: Minister for Defence Khurram Dastgir on Tuesday said that American officials during recent talks had confirmed that they had not stopped Pakistan’s support under the Coalition Support Fund but frozen it.

In an informal talk with media here at the Defence Ministry, he said that Pakistan launched the world’s biggest anti-terrorist operation – Zarb-e-Azb, which got tremendous success. He said that the world would have to acknowledge Pakistan’s contributions in the war against terrorism.

He also said that all resources would be utilised to safeguard the country and the masses. He said that the masses and the armed forces had rendered matchless sacrifices. He said that these sacrifices in the war against terror would not go waste.

In the year 2017, India committed over 2000 ceasefire violations at the Line of Control, he told a questioner. He said that the Pakistan Army troops had been giving a befitting response to Indian violations and would keep on doing that.

He said that Pakistan’s relations with China had entered into a new era and it considered Pakistan its all-weather friend. Due to the security forces’ successful operations, there were now no safe havens for terrorists in the country, he said.

To another question, he said that no written agreement existed between Pakistan and the US for intelligence sharing. During former military ruler Pervez Musharraf’s regime, only verbal agreements took place, which also included intelligence sharing, he said.