ISLAMABAD: On US military assistance cut-off, Pakistan’s Foreign Office hassaid that Pakistan fought war against terrorism largely from its ownresources.
Spokesman for the foreign office (FO) said in a statement that thecountry’s officials were engaged with the US administration on the issue ofsecurity cooperation and were awaiting further details.
On Thursday, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told a newsbriefing in Washington that the cut-off was not permanent and only affectsmilitary assistance.
The spokesperson, Dr Mohammad Faisal, said the “impact of the US’s decisionon pursuit of common objectives would emerge more clearly in due course”.
“However, it needs to be appreciated that Pakistan has fought the waragainst terrorism largely from its own resources which has cost over $120billion in 15 years,” read the statement. “We are determined to continue todo all it takes to secure the lives of our citizens and broader stabilityin the region.”
The statement adds that the Pakistan-US cooperation in fighting terrorismdirectly served the US national security interests as well as the largerinterests of the international community.
“Through a series of major counterterrorism operations, Pakistan clearedall these areas, resulting in elimination of organised terrorist presenceleading to significant improvement in security in Pakistan.”
The statement added that Pakistan is awaiting reciprocal actions from theAfghan side “in terms of clearance of vast stretches of ungoverned spaceson the Afghan side, bilateral border management, repatriation of AfghanRefugees, controlling poppy cultivation, drug trafficking and initiatingAfghan-led and owned political reconciliation in Afghanistan.”