New Delhi: Coming down heavily on Pakistan, US President Donald Trump on Monday said that America got only lies and deceit from Islamabad in return for billions in aid.
"The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more," Trump tweeted.
The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
On August 22, 2017, too, while unveiling the long-awaited strategy for Afghanistan, Trump had hit out at Pakistan for sheltering terrorists. Washington will no longer tolerate Pakistan and Taliban for offering protection to extremists, he had said.
Accusing Pakistan of offering safe haven to `agents of chaos`, Trump had said that the country “has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists." "Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan," he had added.
The US President had again singled out Pakistan for criticism when he had announced his national security strategy in December 2017. "We make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," he had said.
Vice President Mike Pence had also reinforced that message in a visit to Afghanistan just before Christmas in 2017, telling American troops that "President Trump has put Pakistan on notice".
"As the President said, so I say now. Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the US, and Pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbour criminals and terrorists," he had said.
Reacting to Pence's remarks, Pakistan on December 22, 2017, had said that "allies do not put each other on notice." A statement from Foreign Office of Pakistan had added that the comments were "at variance with the extensive conversations we have had with the US administration".
"On notice should be those factors responsible for the exponential increase in drug production, expansion of ungoverned spaces, industrial-scale corruption, the breakdown of governance and letting Daesh gain a foothold in Afghanistan," it had said.
(With Agency inputs)
