ISLAMABAD: National Assembly (NA) Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has on Thursday told the parliamentary committee on national security to try and forge unity as the nation was in dire need to a united voice against the accusation of the American President Donald Trump.
Chairing the meeting of the parliamentary committee, Ayaz Sadiq briefed the members of the committee on reason behind convening the meeting. The meeting had been convened to deliberate on the tirade that the US President had unleashed against Pakistan recently.
Donald Trump had tweeted on Monday that despite doling out of 33 billion dollars in aid to Pakistan during the last 15 years, US had only received ‘lies and deceit’ in return.
According to reports, the US administration is also mulling announcing cuts on the ‘security assistance’ to Pakistan.
Also read: Trump administration to announce cuts in ‘security assistance’ for Pakistan
The Reuters story said that ‘aides in two congressional offices said the State Department called on Wednesday to inform them that it would announce on Wednesday or Thursday that aid was being cut off, although it was not clear how much, what type or for how long’.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declined to say whether an announcement was imminent. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The calls to Capitol Hill came a day after Washington accused Pakistan of playing a “double game” on fighting terrorism and warned Islamabad it would have to do more if it wanted to maintain US aid.
US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday that Washington would withhold $255 million in assistance to Pakistan. Her statement followed an angry tweet from Trump on Monday that the United States had been rewarded with “nothing but lies and deceit” for giving Pakistan billions in aid.
Pakistan civilian and military chiefs rejected what they termed “incomprehensible” US comments and summoned US Ambassador David Hale to explain Trump’s tweet.
Relations between Islamabad and Washington have been strained for years over Islamabad’s alleged support for Haqqani network militants, who are allied with the Afghan Taliban.