Islamabad – In the aftermath of the President Donald Trump’s tweet againstPakistan and the follow up events of the US State and Defence Departmentregarding Pakistan it appears that Pakistan US relations are not going toimprove under the new US administration.
Keeping in mind the ground realities and the US administration attitudetowards Pakistan the civil and military huddle has decided to graduallymove away from US towards regional and international friends.
The civil and military leadership on Thursday decided to enhance relationswith other friendly countries instead of the United States.
A moot under the chair of National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq wasbriefed on the prevailing national security issues and Pakistan’s relationswith other countries.
According to sources, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif told the huddle thatthere has been no improvement in the relations with the US. He said thatthe US has been conveyed loud and clear that harsh language and threatswere not acceptable.
Secretary Foreign Affairs Tehmina Janjua said that talks were ongoing withthe US at the military and diplomatic level.
According to the sources, Janjua informed the meeting that the US has noplans of any military operation inside the Pakistan territory.
Military officials told the meeting that the suspension of US security andmilitary aid would not make any major effect on the overall performance ofthe Pakistan Army.
Defense Minister Khurram Dastagir said that the US has yet to pay Rs2billion under the Coalition Support Fund.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Muftah Ismail said that the US aid wasalready insufficient and the expenses were met from the national kitty.
The participants suggested to cut any dependency on the US aid and meet theexpense of ongoing war on terror from own resources.
They also stressed the need for a unanimous decision on behalf of themilitary and civil leadership from the platform of the parliament regardingthe Pak-US relations.
The meeting was attended by the officials including parliamentary leadersof the Senate and the National Assembly, the Defence Ministry and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs.
Director General Military Operations Maj-Gen Tahir Shamshad and Adviser toNational Security Nasir Janjua also attended the meeting.
Pakistan and US relations has been witnessing a historic nose-dive after USPresident Donald Trump in its tweet on New Year bashed Islamabad stating:“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billiondollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing butlies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with littlehelp. No more!” Trump wrote on the social media. The tweet was followed byconfirmation from the White House that the US will be suspending $255million of military aid to Pakistan, a move aimed to tighten economicrestrictions on Pakistan.
The tweet sparked a strong reaction in Pakistan. Last week, the US rejectedany plans to conduct military operations inside Pakistan.
“We actually don’t contemplate military operations inside Pakistan,” USJoint Staff Director Lt-Gen Kenneth McKenzie told the media at a Pentagonnews briefing last week.
Civil, mily leadership for augmenting
ties with ‘friends’