The United States (US) has suspended $ 1.66 billion in security assistance to Pakistan following President Donald Trump’s directive, the Pentagon has said.
The Pentagon’s statement came days after President Trump had said that Pakistan did not do “a damn thing” for the US, alleging that its government had helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.
“We are not paying Pakistan any money because they are not helping us at all and we will see where it all goes,” Trump said.
Sources said, Pakistan’s leaders have promised cooperation, but it has not happened consequently President Trump is frustrated and so are most Americans.
On November 19, President Trump launched a frontal attack on Pakistan for not acting against the terror pads on its soil.
“We 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’s ENDING!” President Trump tweeted.
Ties between the two nations strained in August last year when Trump, while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia policy hit out at Pakistan for providing safe havens to “agents of chaos” that kill Americans in Afghanistan and warned Pakistan that it has “much to lose” by harbouring terrorists.
Earlier, the Trump administration had cancelled $300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups on its soil.
