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Accusing Pakistan of giving safe haven to terrorists the US hunts in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump on Monday said such a behavior was no longer tolerable.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump said in a tweet Monday morning.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump said in his first tweet of the year.
This is the strongest warning coming from the US President, who has been in fact echoing India’s and Afghanistan’s allegations Pakistan is using state sponsor of terrorism to serve its national security purposes.
In his South Asia Policy unveiled in August, Trump had called for tougher measure against Pakistan if it did not cooperate with the United States in its fight against terrorism.
“We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond,” Trump said in his South Asia Policy speech.
He had said Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with American effort in Afghanistan. “It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists.”
Noting that in the past, Pakistan has been a valued partner, Trump alleged that it has also sheltered the same organizations that try every single day to kill Americans.
In December, the Pentagon warned Pakistan of unilateral action if Islamabad did not act. Before Christmas in a surprise visit to Afghanistan, Vice President Mike Pence had said that Trump has put Pakistan on notice.
“For too long Pakistan has provided safe haven to the Taliban and many terrorist organizations, but those days are over,” Pence told American troops at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan where he made an unannounced trip on December 21.
“President Trump has put Pakistan on notice,” Pence said, addressing about 500 troops in a hangar decorated with Christmas decorations and massive armored vehicles.
The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 1, 2018
