Pakistan summons US ambassador over Trump tweet

Pakistan summoned the US ambassador in a rare public rebuke after Donald Trump threatened to cut aid to Islamabad over its “lies” about militancy.

David Hale was asked to attend the Foreign Ministry on Monday night, after Islamabad responded angrily to the US president’s allegations that it provided safe havens for militants – the latest dispute to rock their alliance, AFP reported.

A US Embassy spokesman confirmed Tuesday Hale met officials but had no comment on what was said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi convened a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday attended by the powerful military chief and other senior military and government officials, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

Trump used his first tweet of 2018 to tear into Islamabad.

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” he said.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”

Pakistan hit back swiftly, saying it had done much for the United States, helping it to “decimate” Al-qaeda, while getting only “invective & mistrust” in return. The angry comments came from its foreign and defense ministers.

Trump’s tweet offered no further details. He first hinted at cutting aid to Pakistan in an August speech charting his Afghan policy, and administration officials including Vice President Mike Pence have also intimated cuts in recent months.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Washington forged a strategic alliance with Islamabad to help in its fight against militancy.

But Washington and Kabul have long accused Islamabad of supporting terrorist groups including the Taliban.

Islamabad has repeatedly denied the accusations, lambasting the US for ignoring the thousands who have been killed on Pakistani soil and the billions spent fighting extremists.

On Tuesday China, which has stepped up a multibilliondollar economic investment in Pakistan, spoke out in its defense, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman praising its “outstanding contribution to the global cause of counterterrorism”.

The Trump administration told Congress in August it was weighing whether to withhold $255 million in earmarked aid to Islamabad over its failure to crack down more effectively on terror groups.

But Islamabad has given few signs of concessions.