ISLAMABAD – Trump-administration is looking into the option of revokingPakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally, permanently cutting off the USmilitary aid and even imposing visa bans or other sanctions on individualsin the Pakistani government on the charge of providing sanctuaries toAfghan militants, Foreign Policylink> reported.
The Trump administration has already temporarily withheld the $255 millionaid, which was part of a $1.1 billion aid package authorised in 2016 byCongress.
The report said: “White House is now engaged in an internal debate aboutthe tempo and scale of possible punitive steps against Pakistan, “adding,”some officials and military officers favor a hard line with Pakistan,maintaining that years of aid and accommodation have produced little inreturn.”
However some view losing an ally to China may not be good.
The White House is also weighing even more drastic measures to include visabans or other punitive measures against individual members of the Pakistanigovernment and state institutes.
“We are prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect US. personnel andinterests in the region,” the senior US administration official, toldjournalists.
In a tweet on New Year’s Day, he claimed that the United States hadfoolishly given Pakistan over $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years.
Trump also accused Pakistan of thinking US leaders to be fools. “They givesafe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. Nomore!”
Trump’s tweet drew a strong reaction from Pakistan. Foreign MinisterKhawaja Asif said Pakistan has already refused to ‘do more’ for the UnitedStates.
“We have already told the US that we will not do more, so Trump’s ‘no more’does not hold any importance,” Asif said.