ISLAMABAD: After US President Donald Trump responded to Prime Minister Imran Khan鈥檚 tweet claiming that Pakistan is among many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return, PM Khan, on Monday, fired back saying Trump鈥檚 false assertions only add insult to injury and that Pakistan will now do what is best for its own interest.
鈥淭rump鈥檚 false assertions add insult to the injury Pakistan has suffered in the US War on Terror in terms of lives lost and destabilized economic costs. He needs to be informed about historical facts. Pakistan has suffered enough fighting US鈥檚 war. Now we will do what is best for our people and our interests,鈥� tweeted PM Khan.
A day after US President Donald Trump claimed that Pakistan does not do 鈥渁 damn thing鈥� for Washington, PM Khan took to Twitter to set the record straight by telling him to quit using Islamabad as a 鈥渟capegoat鈥� in his 鈥渢irade鈥� against the country.
In a four-point tweet, Khan explained why Trump鈥檚 comments were unjustified, reasoning that 鈥淣o Pakistani was involved in 9/11 but Pakistan decided to participate in the US war on terror鈥� nevertheless.
He added that while Pakistan suffered 75,000 casualties in the war and incurred losses of more than $123 billion to the economy, the aid provided by the US was 鈥渁 minuscule $20 billion鈥�.
Elaborating on the catastrophic effect that the war on terror had on Pakistan鈥檚 tribal region and on the lives of its ordinary citizens, he said: 鈥淥ur tribal areas were devastated and millions of people uprooted from their homes. The war drastically impacted the lives of ordinary Pakistanis.鈥�
In his concluding remarks PM Khan said that instead of making 鈥淧akistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 1,40,000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops and reportedly $1 trillion spent on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before.鈥�
He ended his statement by asking Trump is he could 鈥渘ame another ally that gave such sacrifices鈥�.
US President Trump then responded to the prime minister saying, 鈥淥f course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan billions of dollars and they never told us he was living there. Fools!鈥�
He further claimed that 鈥淲e no longer pay Pakistan the $billions because they would take our money and do nothing for us, Bin Laden being a prime example, Afghanistan being another. They were just one of many countries that take from the United States without giving anything in return. That鈥檚 ENDING!鈥�
In an interview with Fox News aired on November 18, Trump justified the cancelation of $300 million in military aid to Pakistan by saying that 鈥淲e鈥檙e supporting Pakistan, we鈥檙e giving them $1.3 billion a year 鈥� which we don鈥檛 give them any more, by the way, I ended it because they don鈥檛 do anything for us, they don鈥檛 do a damn thing for us.鈥�
Talking about slain Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden who was found hiding in Pakistan, a short distance away from the country鈥檚 prestigious military academy, Trump added that 鈥渆verybody in Pakistan knew he was there鈥�.
Federal Minister for Human Rights, Dr. Shireen Mazari, issued a statement on Monday terming 鈥淭rump鈥檚 tirade against Pakistan鈥� a lesson for all those Pakistani leaders 鈥渨ho kept appeasing the US especially after 9/11!鈥�
She added that the 鈥渓oss of Pakistani lives in the US war on terror, the free space for Raymond Davis and other operatives, the illegal killings by drone attacks 鈥� the list is endless鈥nce again history shows appeasement does not work鈥�.
鈥淲hether China or Iran, the US policies of containment and isolation do not coincide with Pakistan鈥檚 strategic interests,鈥� she said.
Former Senate Chairman, Raza Rabbani, termed Trump鈥檚 remarks 鈥渃ontrary to the facts鈥� and reminded the US president that his 鈥渓anguage regarding a sovereign state was aggressive鈥�.
鈥淗e should be careful; Pakistan is not a state or colony of the US,鈥� Rabbani said, further reminding Trump that 鈥渢he US killed Pakistanis in unauthorized drone attacks, the US-sponsored terrorism in Kabul, and a drug industry was created on the Pak-Afghan border for the financial assistance of the US鈥�.
鈥淭he Pakistani nation is paying the price of political and economic instability due to its alliance with the US,鈥� he said.
Former Foreign Minister, Khawaja Asif, also took to Twitter to rebuff the US president鈥檚 remarks saying, 鈥淲e continue to pay in blood for what we did for the USA.鈥�
In a tweet, that was later deleted, from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)鈥檚 official twitter account, the party claimed the American government 鈥渋s having an extremely hard time accepting the fact that the current Government of Pakistan being led by @ImranKhanPTI will not accept the terms and conditions they want to enforce on Pakistan; Wake up! #PMIKSaysNoMore鈥�
The already strained relations between the United States and Pakistan took another dip in January this year when Trump suspended security assistance to Islamabad over the alleged presence of Afghan militant groups in Pakistan鈥檚 tribal belt 鈥� a claim rejected by Islamabad.