WASHINGTON: Responding to US President Donald Trump’s criticism of Pakistan for “harboring terrorists,” Pakistan ambassador to the United States Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry says Pakistan’s resolve to fight terrorism cannot be disputed.
“Pakistan has always striven for peaceful Afghanistan. Pakistan has to incur huge losses owing to instability in Afghanistan for the past 38 years,” he said and reiterated that Pakistan for the umpteenth times had cleared that there were no safe havens for terrorists in the country, nor was it harboring any terrorist groups.
Chaudhry said onus is on Afghan authorities to make reconciliation process successful. The federal cabinet deliberated on the new Afghan policy and it will also come under discussion of the National Security Committee, which will hammer out a befitting response to the policy, he added.
Donald Trump on Monday committed the United States to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, signaling he would dispatch more troops to America’s longest war and vowing “a fight to win”. Trump insisted that others – the Afghan government, Pakistan, India and NATO allies – step up their own commitment to resolving the 16-year conflict, but he saved his sharpest words for Pakistan. Senior U.S. officials warned security assistance could be reduced unless the nuclear-armed nation cooperated more in preventing militants from using safe havens on its soil.
