Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan has hit back at US accusations it harbours Afghan Taliban safe havens, with the country’s army chief rejecting financial assistance from the United States.

“We are not looking for any material or financial assistance … but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions,” Qamar Javed Bajwa said during a meeting with David Hale, the US ambassador to Pakistan.

“We have done a lot towards [achieving peace in Afghanistan] and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy,” Bajwa said on Wednesday, according to a military press release.

The defiant statement marks the first official response from Pakistan’s military, which controls the country’s security policy and elements of its foreign policy, to US President Donald Trump’s Monday announcement of a wide-ranging new policy in Afghanistan and South Asia.

Trump’s singled out Pakistan, saying that the South Asian nuclear power had been duplicitous in its dealings with the US and needed to change its policies.

“We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organisations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond,” Trump said. “Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists.”

On Thursday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi held a high-level meeting of the country’s national security committee, rejecting Trump’s allegations and terming the policy an attempt “to scapegoat Pakistan”.

The committee did, however, express Islamabad’s resolve to work with Washington, and called on US military forces to target Pakistani Taliban elements reportedly based in Afghan regions.

“We would like to see effective and immediate US military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harboring terrorists and miscreants on the Afghan soil including those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan. The Afghan war cannot be fought in Pakistan,” the committee said in a statement released after the meeting.