Trump lambastes Pakistan over anti-terror fight

W A S H I N G T O N / ISLAMABAD: Hours after US President Donald

Trump called upon Pakistan to `demonstrate its commitment to civilisation,
order and to peace` and identified the country a safe haven for `agents of
chaos, violence and terror`, Islamabad expressed its disappointment on
Tuesday over the disregard for its sacrifices, but vowed to continue
participating in global counterterrorism efforts.

President Trump`s new strategy for Afghanistan, which he announced in an

address to his nation on Monday night, also warned against the possibility of
Pakistan`s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists and being
used against the United States.

These were perhaps the harshest remarks uttered against Pakistan by any US
president over the course of their 70-year relationship, which has seen many
ups and downs.

Even former president Barack Obama was not soharsh when he announced
the discovery and elimination of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in
Abbottabad.

But President Trump minced no words. `The nextpillar of our new strategy
is to change the approach in how to deal with Pakistan.

We can no longer be silent about Pakistan`s safe havens for terrorist

organisations, the Taliban and other groups that pose a threat to the region
and beyond,` he said.

`For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence
and terror. The threat is worse because Pakistan and India are two
nuclear-arme d s tates whose tense relations threaten to spiral into conflict.
And that could happen,` he said.

`In Afghanistan and Pakistan, America`s interests are clear. We must stop
the resurgence of safe havens that enable terrorists to threaten America. And
we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands
of terrorists and being used against us, or anywhere in the world, for that
matter, the US president warned.

He made it clear that the key point of his new strategy was to win the war in
Afghanistan, and if Pakistan wanted to remain an ally, it would have to help
the US achieve that objective.

`In the past, Pakistan has been a valued partner. Our militaries have worked
together against common enemies. The Pakistani people have suffered
greatly from terrorism and extremism.

We recognise those contributions and those sacrifices,` he said.

`But Pakistan has also sheltered the same organisations that try every single
day to kill our people. We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of
dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are
fighting. No partnership can survive a country`s harbouring of militants and
terrorists who target US service members and officials,` he said.

He added insult to injury by urging India to play a greater role in

Afghanistan, ignoring Islamabad`s fears that New Delhi might use its
growing influence there to stir trouble in Pakistan.

Warning Pakistan to change its policy or face America`s wrath,President

Trump said that `another critical part` of his strategy was to `further develop
its strategic partnership with India,` the world`s largest democracy and a key
security and economic partner of the US.

Biggest victim In reaction to the new US policy, issued by the Foreign

Office in Islamabad after a meeting of thefederalcabinet, saidnocountry in
the world had done more against terrorism than Pakistan, which also was its
biggest victim.

The cabinet decided to convene a meeting of the National Security

Committee on Thursday to formulate a detailed rejoinder.

The statement reiterated that Pakistan did not allow the use of its territory
against any country.

`Instead of relying on the false narrative of safe havens, the US needs to

work with Pakistan to eradicate terrorism.

It noted that threat to peace and security could not be isolated from the
complex interplay of geopolitics, continued existence of festering disputes
and pursuitof hegemonic policies.
`Non-resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute remains the primary
obstacle to peace and stability in the region,` it said.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, in a meeting with US

Ambassador David Hale, renewed Pakistan`s commitment to cooperate with
the international community in fighting terrorism. The envoy met Mr Asif
hours after President Trump`s speech. A Foreign Office statement said he
briefed the minister on the US president`s statement.

Mr Asif will travel to Washington over the next few days on the invitation
of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, where he will hold in depth talks on
the new policy and the state of bilateral relations.

The opposition parties denounced the new US policy, with Pakistan

Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan saying that Pakistan was being made a
scapegoat for US failures in Afghanistan. He said the policy carried a lesson
for Pakistan; `never fight others` wars for the lure of dollars`All options
Trying to reduce the impact of President Trump`s hard-hitting speech,
Secretary Tillerson later declared that Pakistan could still be a key US
partner in the region if it eliminated alleged terrorist safe havens.

`Pakistan has suffered greatly from terrorism and can be an important

partner in our shared goals of peace and stability in the region. We look to
Pakistan to take decisive action against militant groups based in Pakistan
that are a threat to the region,` he said in a statement issued by the State
Department. Mr Tillerson also spoke with India`s External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj and Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani.

At a State Department news briefing on Tuesday, Mr Tillerson said the US

would exercise all the options it had to persuade Pal(istan to stop allowing
the Afghan Taliban to use its soil.

`We will engage with them as to our expectations and all of the things you
just listed are on the table. It is in Pakistan`s interestto take these actions.

He explained the measures President Trump had outlined in his address. `I

think the president was clear that this effort is to put pressure on Taliban to
have them understand that you will not win a battlefield victory.

We may not win one but neither will you. Need to bring to negotiating table
for an end,` he said.
Mr Tillerson said the Trump administration took months to finalise the
strategy because it chose not to just focus on Afghanistan but conduct a
comprehensive review of its relationships with Pakistan and India as well.

`Pakistan can play an important role in delivering Taliban to negotiating

table. They have suffered terrorism as dramatic as anyone we`ve seen. They
must adopt a different approach,` Mr Tillerson said.

`We have witnessed terrorist organisations disrupt peace efforts within

Afghanistan.

Pakistan must adopt a different approach. Must help them protect

themselves,` he said.

Explaining how the US viewedits future ties with Pakistan, the secretary
said: `We are going to be conditioning our support and relationship with
Pakistan on them being able to deliver results. We want to work with them
in a positive way but they must change their approach.

The US secretary said he had `a good call with the PM of Pakistan to give
them a warning of what they were going to hear. I touched on the points I
made to you today`.

Mr Tillerson said there were no preconditions how Pakistan and

Afghanistan should work togetherto seek anegotiatedend to the conflict.

The US, he said, had also engaged other regional players, such as China,
Russia and the Gulf countries.

`Obviously, we have some leverage in discussions on military assistance and

their status as a non-Nato ally. At the end of the day, Pakistan has to decide
what is in their interest. If I were the Pakistan government, I would have
growing concerns about the strength of the Taliban.

Urging Pakistan and India totake a regional approach and resolve their
differences, Mr Tillerson said: `The US alone is not going to change this
dynamic with Pakistan. They have to deal with India.` He said there were
issues on which India too `can take some steps to improve its relations with
Pakistan` Chinese support Beijing came out strongly in support of Pakistan
after the criticism by President Trump.
In a meeting with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Chinese Foreign
Minister Wang Yi praised Pakistan`s `great sacrifices` in the fight against
terrorism and urged the international community to recognise the same.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said: `(On)

President Trump`s remarks on Pakistan, I should say that Pakistan is at the
frontline of fighting terrorism, has made sacrifices in fighting terrorism,
making an important contribution to upholding peace and stability.