Devil Soul
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Pakistan can review cooperation with US if it is not appreciated, says Maleeha Lodhi
APPJanuary 03, 2018
111
0
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Maleeha Lodhi condemned the United States (US) administration's aggressive remarks against Pakistan and said that Islamabad could "review its cooperation if it is not appreciated".
Referring to US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley's comments a day earlier where she had accused Pakistan of playing a "double game" with the US, Lodhi cautioned against "shifting the blame for [the US'] own mistakes and failures onto others".
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Lodhi said that Pakistan has "contributed and sacrificed the most in fighting international terrorism".
The diplomat added that Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism did not depend on US aid but on "national interests and principles".
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Worsening relations
A war of words was triggered after Trump, in his first tweets on New Year's day, lashed out against Pakistan, calling the country a "liar".
Elaborating on Trump's tweets, Haley on Tuesday said that the US had withheld $255 million of military aid to Pakistan for the latter's alleged "harbouring of terrorists".
On the same day, US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said at a press briefing that a detailed policy will be announced within the next 24-48 hours.
While announcing his national security policy last year, the US president had been quick to remind Pakistan of its 'obligation' to help America "because it receives massive payments" from Washington every year.
"We have made clear to Pakistan that while we desire continued partnership, we must see decisive action against terrorist groups operating on their territory. And we make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," he had said.
A Pentagon report to the US Congress, released to the media on Dec 17, had said Washington would also take 'unilateral steps' in areas of divergence with Pakistan while expanding cooperation between the two countries where their interests converge.
Subsequently, US Vice President Mike Pence had, in a surprise visit to Afghanistan's Bagram airbase on Dec 22, warned that Trump has "put Pakistan on notice" in what was the harshest US warning to Islamabad since the beginning of the Afghan war over 16 years ago.
The Pakistan Army spokesman, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, had at a press conference last week asserted that the aid Pakistan received from the US was "reimbursement for support we gave to the coalition for its fight against Al Qaeda."
"Had we not supported the US and Afghanistan, they would never have been able to defeat Al Qaeda," he had said.
His briefing was considered perhaps the strongest-ever reaction from Islamabad since US functionaries began alluding to the possibility of unilateral action.
Hitting back at the US, the civilian-controlled Foreign Office (FO) had also warned against the "malicious campaign" being "used to trivialise Pakistan's achievements in the war against terrorism", and noted that "allies do not put each other on notice".
The FO had further complained that US statements are "at variance with the extensive conversations we [Islamabad] have had with the US administration".
APPJanuary 03, 2018
111
0
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Maleeha Lodhi condemned the United States (US) administration's aggressive remarks against Pakistan and said that Islamabad could "review its cooperation if it is not appreciated".
Referring to US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley's comments a day earlier where she had accused Pakistan of playing a "double game" with the US, Lodhi cautioned against "shifting the blame for [the US'] own mistakes and failures onto others".
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Lodhi said that Pakistan has "contributed and sacrificed the most in fighting international terrorism".
The diplomat added that Pakistan's role in the war against terrorism did not depend on US aid but on "national interests and principles".
ADVERTISEMENT
Worsening relations
A war of words was triggered after Trump, in his first tweets on New Year's day, lashed out against Pakistan, calling the country a "liar".
Elaborating on Trump's tweets, Haley on Tuesday said that the US had withheld $255 million of military aid to Pakistan for the latter's alleged "harbouring of terrorists".
On the same day, US Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said at a press briefing that a detailed policy will be announced within the next 24-48 hours.
While announcing his national security policy last year, the US president had been quick to remind Pakistan of its 'obligation' to help America "because it receives massive payments" from Washington every year.
"We have made clear to Pakistan that while we desire continued partnership, we must see decisive action against terrorist groups operating on their territory. And we make massive payments every year to Pakistan. They have to help," he had said.
A Pentagon report to the US Congress, released to the media on Dec 17, had said Washington would also take 'unilateral steps' in areas of divergence with Pakistan while expanding cooperation between the two countries where their interests converge.
Subsequently, US Vice President Mike Pence had, in a surprise visit to Afghanistan's Bagram airbase on Dec 22, warned that Trump has "put Pakistan on notice" in what was the harshest US warning to Islamabad since the beginning of the Afghan war over 16 years ago.
The Pakistan Army spokesman, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, had at a press conference last week asserted that the aid Pakistan received from the US was "reimbursement for support we gave to the coalition for its fight against Al Qaeda."
"Had we not supported the US and Afghanistan, they would never have been able to defeat Al Qaeda," he had said.
His briefing was considered perhaps the strongest-ever reaction from Islamabad since US functionaries began alluding to the possibility of unilateral action.
Hitting back at the US, the civilian-controlled Foreign Office (FO) had also warned against the "malicious campaign" being "used to trivialise Pakistan's achievements in the war against terrorism", and noted that "allies do not put each other on notice".
The FO had further complained that US statements are "at variance with the extensive conversations we [Islamabad] have had with the US administration".
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