ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday disclosed that he had received a letter from US President Donald Trump seeking Pakistan’s help in Afghan peace talks with the Taliban to end the years-long war.
The premier stated this during a meeting with TV anchors and reporters. He added that Trump, who has been firing salvos against Islamabad since holding the office, has asked Pakistan to play its role for talks with the militants.
The US president has also sought Pakistan’s assistance to bring the Taliban leadership to the negotiating table, Khan disclosed.
He further told journalists that previously, Pakistan had been apologetic in its ties with the US but his government has dealt with the country on equal terms.
The prime minister assured that Pakistan would play any role for bringing peace in Afghanistan.
The US invasion of Afghanistan occurred 17 years ago after the 9/11 attacks in late 2001, apparently to dismantle al-Qaeda and weed out its safe havens in Afghanistan by toppling Taliban government.
A change in the attitude of Trump comes days after he had unleashed rant against Pakistan, accusing it of not having done a damn thing in the Global War on Terror.
In an interview with Fox News on Nov 18, the US leader had referred to the suspension of Coalition Support Fund (CSF) and defended his move to block the release of funds to Islamabad.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/pakistan-has-not-done-a-damn-thing-for-us-trump-unleashes-rant-against-islamabad/
Prime Minister Imran Khan fired back Monday after Donald Trump accused Pakistan of harboring Osama bin Laden despite getting billions of dollars in American aid.
A day after the US president, in a Fox News interview, ranted that Pakistan doesn’t “do a damn thing for us,” PM Khan suggested in a series of tweets that Trump should examine his own country’s failed “war on terror” and stop “making Pakistan a scapegoat.”
“And we give Pakistan $1.3 billion a year . … [bin Laden] lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them $1.3 billion a year — which we don’t give them anymore, by the way. I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us.” Trump said in clear-worded remarks.
The Republican also referred to the presence of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan.
‘You know, living – think of this – living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer,’ Trump said, referring to bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.
‘But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there,” he alleged.
Later, PM fired back after Donald Trump accused Pakistan of harboring Osama bin Laden despite getting billions of dollars in American aid.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/stop-using-pakistan-as-scapegoat-for-americas-failed-war-on-terror-pm-imran-khan-slams-trump-on-twitter/
He suggested in a series of tweets that Trump should examine his own country’s failed “war on terror” and stop “making Pakistan a scapegoat.”
In September, Trump decided to cut off $300 million in US aid to Pakistan, accusing the country of providing a safe haven for terrorists.
Prior to his election as prime minister in July, Khan condemned Trump’s decision to cut off aid as an attempt to “humiliate and insult” Pakistan and argued that his nation must never again be used by the US as a “gun for hire.”
“We became a US proxy for a war against the Soviet Union when it entered Afghanistan and we allowed the CIA to create, train, and arm jihadi groups on our soil and a decade later we tried to eliminate them as terrorists on US orders,” Khan declared in a January letter. “The time has come to stand firm and give a strong response to the US.”
