ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office called on Tuesday for peace in neighbouring Afghanistan and said that Pakistan wanted to work to eliminate terrorism after a blistering statement by US President Donald Trump.
The carefully worded statement from the Foreign Office called for “peace and stability in Afghanistan”. It also “underlined Pakistan’s continued desire to work with the International Community to eliminate the menace of terrorism”. Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said on Tuesday that Pakistan offered immense sacrifices in enduring fight against terrorism, announcing that he would arrange a trip to the United States in the coming days. Reacting to US President Trump’s statement, the Foreign Office Wednesday said blistering criticism by US President Donald Trump was “disappointing” and denied accusations that it supported terrorist groups. “No country in the world has suffered more than Pakistan from the scourge of terrorism, often perpetrated from outside our borders. It is, therefore disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation in this effort,” said a Foreign Office statement. The federal minister was briefed about the US policy review on South Asia and Afghanistan formulated under President Donald Trump by the US Ambassador David Hale on Wednesday. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Hale conveyed that the Secretary of State Rex Tillerson looked forward to meeting Khawaja Asif in the next few days to have an in-depth discussion on the state of play in the bilateral relationship as well as the new US policy on South Asia.
Published in Daily Times, August 23rd 2017.
