NEW YORK, Jan 03 (APP):US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he was looking forward to meeting Pakistan's new leadership, while expressing his desire to have “great relationship” with that country.
Trump made that statement in Washington in the course of a press appearance at a cabinet
meeting on the U.S. government shutdown during which he defended his push for the United States
to invest less overseas.
“I look forward to meeting the folks from the new leadership in Pakistan. We will be doing that
in not-too-distant future,” the president added.
Imran Khan, who took over as prime minister in August last year, said in a recent interview with
the Washington Post that Pakistan wants a “proper relationship” with the United States similar to its
ties with China. He categorically rejected accusations that there were Taliban sanctuaries on
Pakistani soil.
“I would never want to have a relationship where Pakistan is treated like a hired gun — given
money to fight someone else’s war,” PM Imran Khan said. “We should never put ourselves in this
position again. It not only cost us human lives, devastation of our tribal areas, but it also cost us
our dignity.”
The US leader also said that his administration had initiated peace talks with the Taliban.
Last year, the United States sought Pakistan’s support to advance the Afghan peace process
in a letter President Trump addressed to PM Imran Khan.
The letter came after Trump accused Pakistan of “doing nothing” despite receiving “billions of
dollars” in aid. The Pakistani leader gave a strong response to the allegations, advising Washington
to assess its own effectiveness in the war on terrorism instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat
for its failures.
Significantly, Trump also took potshots at Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, mocking India’s
aid to the war-ravaged Afghanistan. He said while he got along well with the Indian premier, he
didn’t like Modi “constantly telling me he built a library in Afghanistan.”The amount, which India might
have spent on that library, was five hours of work the US does in the country, the president said.
“You know what that is? That’s like five hours of what we spend. And we’re supposed to say, ‘Oh,
thank you for the library.’ I don’t know who’s using it in Afghanistan,” Trump added.
