Pakistan on Thursday, responded to Washington’s accusation that it shelter has failed to eliminate militant asylums inside Afghanistan.
The rare reaction came in a policy statement issued by the office of Prime Minister Shahid Abbasi after a meeting of the civilian and military leadership.
“President Donald Trump has accused Pakistan of harbouring “agents of chaos” and providing safe havens to militant groups waging an insurgency against a U.S-backed government in Kabul.
“Islamabad must quickly change tack,’’ he said.
Pakistan, however, saw things differently.
“We would like to see effective and immediate U.S. military efforts to eliminate sanctuaries harbouring terrorists and miscreants on Afghan soil.
“This includes those responsible for fomenting terror in Pakistan.
“The Afghan war cannot be fought in Pakistan,” the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement, one of the strongest ever responses to Washington, it said.
The statement referred not only to the Afghan Taliban, but also the loosely affiliated Pakistani Taliban that Islamabad contends uses sanctuaries inside Afghanistan to plan attacks on Pakistani soil.
White House officials have threatened cuts in aid and military support, as well as other measures to force nuclear-armed Pakistan’s hand and bring about an end to the 16-year war.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said that Washington should not use Pakistan as a “scapegoat” for its failures in America’s longest running war.
However, Pakistan denies harbouring militants.
The statement said that Washington’s claims it that had paid billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan were misleading.
Payments to Pakistan since 2001 accounted for only part of the cost of ground facilities and air corridors used by the U.S. for operations in Afghanistan, it said.
Pakistani officials bristle at what they called lack of respect by Washington for the country’s sacrifices in the war against militancy and its successes against groups.
The groups they said include al Qaeda, Islamic State or the Pakistani Taliban.
Pakistan estimates there have been 70,000 casualties in militant attacks, including 17,000 killed since it joined the U.S. “war on terrorism” after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.
“We feel the American administration, led by Trump, has been totally one sided.
“It has been unfair to Pakistan and does not appreciate and recognise Pakistan as a pivotal player,” Sen. Mushahid Hussain, Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, told Reuters on Thursday Islamabad.
Some analysts have suggested putting greater pressure on Pakistan risked driving Islamabad deeper into the arms of China.
China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, told U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in a phone call that the U.S. must value Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and respect its security concerns, according to Chinese state media.
The relationship between the two countries has endured periods of extreme strain in recent years. This is so, especially after al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. Special Forces in Pakistan in a 2011 raid.
(Source: Reuters/NAN)