WE REFUSE TO BE ‘HIRED GUN’ FOR U.S., SAYS KHAN

Pakistan will no longer be America’s “hired gun” to fight its wars, Imran Khan has said. After trading barbs with Donald Trump in recent weeks, Pakistan’s prime minister said he still wanted to be friends with the U.S., but wanted a broader relationship reaching beyond security cooperation.

The former cricketer, pictured, said that Pakistan was growing closer to China because the U.S. “has basically pushed Pakistan away.”

Pakistan also announced that it was expelling 18 international charities and aid agencies after they failed to overturn expulsion orders. Shireen Mazari, the human rights minister, said they spread misinformation.

The decision was thought to have come after pressure from the country’s powerful spy apparatus, which has previously accused foreign aid agencies of espionage. Another 20 agencies are at risk of also being removed.

President Trump last month launched a tirade accusing Pakistan of duplicity and “not doing a damn thing to help us” despite being given billions of dollars in military assistance.

Khan said: “I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun — given money to fight someone else’s war. We should never put ourselves in this position again.”