Washington/United Nations: The United States on Tuesday said that Pakistan has been playing a “double game” for years on fighting terrorism. It said that Islamabad will have to “earn” American aid worth millions of dollars by taking decisive action against militants operating from its soil.
The tough message from the US came after an angry tweet from US President Donald Tru-mp on New Year’s day that America had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit” by Pakistan in return for its over $33 billion aid in the last 15 years.
Soon after the US President’s tweet, the White House confirmed that the US had suspended its $255 million military aid to Pakistan.
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley defended Mr Trump’s decision to block aid to Pakistan and said, “There are clear reasons for this. Pakistan has played a double game for years.”
“They (Pakistanis) work with us at times, and they also harbour the terrorists that attack our troops in Afghan-istan. That game is not acceptable to this administration,” Ms Haley told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
The Trump administration expects far more cooperation from Pakistan in the fight against terrorism, she said.
“Mr Trump is willing to go to great lengths to stop all funding for Pakistan as they continue to harbour and support terrorism,” Ms Haley said.
