Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Islamabad: US President Donald Trump’s indifferent attitude toward Pakistan at the US-Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh has irked Islamabad, according to a report Tuesday in a major Pakistani daily The Nation.

The report in the English language newspaper quoted unnamed foreign ministry official as saying that Pakistan had contacted the US through the diplomatic channels after Trump did not even mention Pakistan in his speech at the summit.

“This has of course hurt us. We expected acknowledgement of our role and our commitment to defeat terrorism,” the official told the daily.

Addressing the Muslim-majority nations Donald Trump named India as the country affected by terrorism and he totally ignored Pakistan in his speech, the report pointed out.

The report said at a time when India, Afghanistan and Iran were accusing Pakistan of terrorism, Trump’s speech did little to help the only nuclear-armed Muslim nation.

It said Indian role in fanning terrorism inside Pakistan has been proved beyond doubt with the arrest and conviction of Indian ‘spy’ Kulbushan Jadhav.

“Everyone knows that TTP (Pakistani Taliban) and the likes have safe havens in Afghanistan from where they launch bloody attacks on Pakistan,” the report said.

Another official at the foreign ministry told The Nation, that Pakistan had counted its sacrifices in the war against terrorism during the diplomatic contacts with the US.

“Our ambassador to the US [Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry] and other diplomats will also take up this issue in Washington,” he said.

The official said that Trump’s speech damaged Pakistan’s efforts to convince the world that “we are seriously fighting terrorists.”

He said terming India as victim of terrorism when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was attending the summit did not send a good message.

By Mohsin Ali Correspondent

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