ISLAMABAD – After Trump’s threatening new year tweet the relations betweenPakistan and US ebbed to new low with strong statements from both sidesadding to the stalemate between the two allies.
However the ice started to melt between the two allies as US administrationhad realised that threatening and bashing Pakistan would be counterproductive and pressurising Pakistan further might lead to closure of theUS supply line to Afghanistan.
In the latest series of events The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary forBureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells reached Pakistan onMonday.
The US official had a meeting with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, inwhich bilateral relations between Islamabad and Washington were discussedin the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s South Asia policy.
According to a statement issued by the Foreign Office, matters related toregional security situation were also discussed by the officials.
This is third visit by Wells to Pakistan since August 2017, when POTUSannounced his policy for Afghanistan, accusing Pakistan of providing safehavens to terrorists.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump in his New Year tweet accused Pakistanof lies and deceit in response to the aid provided to it.
“They give safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, withlittle help. No more!” he said on January 1.
The ‘most liked’ tweet led to heightened tensions between Pakistan and theUS following which the US announced that it was suspending the transfer ofmilitary equipment and security-related funds to Pakistan.
Moreover, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) informed on On January12 that Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa received two phonecalls from US Centcom Commander General Joseph Votel and one from a USsenator over the week to discuss Pak-US security cooperation following thetweet.
The army chief told the US officials that Pakistan will continue its“sincere counter-terrorism efforts” even without US financial support inaccordance with its own national interest, stated military’s media wing.