Pakistan set to review ties with US after Trump tweet
January 3, 2018
WASHINGTON: Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations Maleeha Lodhi says Islamabad’s cooperation with Washington is not based on any aid consideration, but on national interests and principles.
Responding to the questions put to her by reporters following US Ambassador Nikki Haley’s scathing remarks about Pakistan at the UN, she said Pakistan could review its cooperation with Washington if it was not appreciated.
Maleeha Lodhi said that Pakistan has contributed and sacrificed the most in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan’s security forces have carried out the largest counter terrorism operation in the world, she added.
The ambassador said the US should not shift the blame for their own mistakes and failures onto others.
Earlier, Haley said, “Pakistan has played a double game for years. They work with us at times, and they also harbor the terrorists that attack our troops in Afghanistan.”
“That game is not acceptable to this administration. We expect far more cooperation from Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.”
Her comments came on the heels of an angry tweet from President Donald Trump on Monday that the United States had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit” for “foolishly” giving Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid in the past 15 years.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he tweeted.(Agencies)
