Pakistan reacts to Trump’s charges, recounting its counterterror role, sacrifices, economic losses

Pakistan has reacted strongly to President Donald Trump’s allegations that the South Asian country does nothing for the United States in return for billions of dollars in aid given to it.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a series of tweets, also asked the U.S. to have a serious assessment of its war on terror in Afghanistan, where the militant Taliban continues to pose a huge security challenge to the West-backed Kabul government.

Khan’s response came after Trump, while defending his administration’s decision to suspend assistance for Pakistan, told FOX News that said Pakistan does not do “a damn thing for us.”

Trump went on to suggest that everyone knew that al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden – before he was killed in a U.S. raid on May 1, 2011 – lived comfortably in a large mansion in Abbottabad, the military garrison city.

But Imran Khan reminded the U.S. that his country has done more than any other member of the international community in prosecuting the war on terror.

Record needs to be put straight on Mr Trump's tirade against Pakistan: 1. No Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pak decided to participate in US War on Terror. 2. Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in this war & over $123 bn was lost to economy. US "aid" was a miniscule $20 bn.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018

The Pakistani leader said the war on terror – launched with the help of Pakistan in the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks – drastically affected the Pakistanis, uprooting millions of people from their homes in the tribal areas of the country, bordering Afghanistan.

3. Our tribal areas were devastated & millions of ppl uprooted from their homes. The war drastically impacted lives of ordinary Pakistanis. 4. Pak continues to provide free lines of ground & air communications(GLOCs/ALOCs).Can Mr Trump name another ally that gave such sacrifices?

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018

He also called for a U.S. assessment of its war efforts in Afghanistan, which remains stuck in troubles despite a trillion dollars spent.

Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops & reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before.

— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) November 19, 2018

The relations between the United States and Pakistan have slumped dramatically this year, despite the fact that the two have had a series of diplomatic meetings to sort out differences.

The year 2018 began with a big setback to the relationship as President Trump in a Twitter post said Pakistan has not done enough to help Washington’s ongoing war in Afghanistan. Trump also accused Pakistan of giving refuge to the Afghan Taliban who were fighting the U.S. and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.

Trump says Pakistan has not done enough against terror in return for U.S. aid

Since then, the U.S. has halted all security assistance to Pakistan.

Pakistan still remains the key to any hopes for an end to the U.S.-led war against terror in Afghanistan due to two reasons – its influence in the neighboring landlocked country and its being the land route for U.S. supplies into Afghanistan.