US can’t stay silent on Pak terror, says Trump

We have been paying Pakistan billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists we are fighting

President Donald Trump has signalled his new strategy for Afghanistan will be based on a marked toughening of the US position on Pakistan for its “safe havens for terrorist organisations” along with an appeal to India to do more in economic assistance.

The “core pillar” of the strategy, which Trump unveiled during a speech at a military facility outside Washington, is a “shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions”. He refused to talk about troop levels and other military plans, saying he had long held such announcements to be counter-productive.

A new approach to Pakistan, he said, was the “next pillar” of the strategy for Afghanistan. “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond,” Trump said in his first public rebuke of Islamabad’s counterterrorism record.

He went on to warn Pakistan that though it had much to gain from partnering with the US in Afghanistan, “it has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists”.

“We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting,” Trump said, venting his frustration that he has privately expressed to many. “But that will have to change and that will change immediately.”

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