Pak houses, takes care of enemy, says Trump
‘We want to have a great relationship with Islamabad’
WASHINGTON:US President Donald Trump has said he wanted a “great relationship” with Pakistan and was looking forward to meeting its “new leadership,” but warned they “house the enemy and take care of them.”
Around this time in 2018, Trump had accused Pakistan of returning only “lies and deceit” for the billions of dollars it received from the US as aid.
The chief complaint remained the same, then and now: Pakistan is not taking decisive action against terrorists based on its soil. Trump had suspended all security-related aid to Pakistan in an unprecedented escalation last January.
“We want to have a great relationship with Pakistan, but they house the enemy. They take care of the enemy. We just can’t do that,” Trump said on Wednesday ahead of his cabinet’s first meeting of the year. “I ended USD 1.3 billion that we paid like it was water. we just paid it (to) Pakistan. So, I ended that.”
The exact amount of the aid cut has evolved from nearly $2 bn, from the time of the announcement in 2017, to $1.66 bn, as conveyed by US department of defence last November. Trump on Wednesday put the figure at $1.3 bn, but some Pakistan watchers say it’s higher than all these amounts.
Trump seemed ready to engage with Pakistan. “So, I look forward to meeting with the folks from…the new leadership in Pakistan. We will be doing that in the not too distant future.”
Trump has not met Prime Minister Imran Khan yet and there was no word on when they are likely to meet, and where.