ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said Pakistan does notfeel that the US president’s tweet blasting it for providing safe havens toterrorists constitutes official US policy.
“It has to come through an official document or an official meeting toconstitute official policy, in our opinion,” the prime minister said in aninterview with the Washington Postlink>.
When asked what his response would be to the tweet, PM Abbasi said “theground realities do not support what President Trump is saying” andreiterated that Pakistan is committed to fighting the war against terror.[image: an image]link>
“There are no two ways about it. We have assisted the US forces and willcontinue to assist them. There have been over 1.1 million overflightswithin our airspace — US aircraft going to Afghanistan and fighting the warthere. There have been millions of tons of equipment and cargo going there.There has not been a single instance where if actual intelligence has beenprovided [to us], it has not been acted upon.”
The prime minister said that the two countries have had good relations inthe past 15 years but ties have suffered significantly after Donald Trump’stweet.
The relations started to suffer after US’ raid in Abbottabad, he said.“Pakistan’s sovereignty was affected. There was a big cry in the publicthat this is not acceptable. Nobody disputed that Osama was a wantedcriminal, but Pakistan should have been informed.”
The prime minister disputed that US was giving any kind of aid to Pakistan,saying that CSF basically reimburses expenditure incurred by Pakistan “thatare made in support of US forces in Afghanistan”. The security assistanceprovided by the US was minimal, he said.[image: an image]
He reiterated that Pakistan has been fighting the war for years and haslost civilians and soldiers to terrorism, besides the economic cost.
“Even today, Pakistan is fighting the largest war on terror in the world.We have 200,000 troops fighting a war against terror today on the westernborder. We have lost 6,500 troops. We have defeated the same enemy the restof the world failed to defeat in Afghanistan, on the same terrain, with ourown resources.”
When asked whether Pakistan will continue to allow US supplies toAfghanistan through Pakistan, PM said that supply will not be interruptebecause that helps in the war against terror.
“It helps bring stability to Pakistan, so we support that effort. We havetaken our territory back. We have destroyed the sanctuaries.”
He also said there are no terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan but ifintelligence points towards any, Pakistan will take action.
“On the ground, the reality is that in the last year, 29 suicide bomberscrossed over from Afghanistan into Pakistan and attacked our installations.”
The PM on being asked about possible solutions to end Afghan conflict saidthat all “war is not a solution”. “The Afghans have to sit down and resolvetheir problems…The US and Pakistan should facilitate the peace process.”
When asked what message would he like to give to Trump, PM Abbasi said thatthe US president needs to look at Pakistan’s viewpoint.
“The reality of Pakistan is very different from the perception he has.Pakistan is a US ally. It is a partner against the same enemy, which isterror.”
Even today, he added, we continue to provide the United States with air andground logistics for Afghanistan without any contract or payment, he said.
Commenting on China-Pakistan relations, the PM said that the relationshipbetween the two countries is 70 years old and is ever growing. The two havemilitary and economic cooperation and are taking it forward with theChina-Pakistan Economic Corridor.