Daily Times

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari on Tuesday said US President Donald Trump was compelled to perform a reality check after Prime Minister Imran Khan’s response to his “offensive tweets” against Pakistan.

Taking to Twitter a day after PM Imran revealed that the US president had written a letter to him, the human rights minister said, “PM IK’s response to Trump’s offensive tweets against Pakistan compelled Trump to do a reality check and write to PM Khan asking for help in bringing peace to Afghanistan!”

“So much for those in Pakistan who were quivering after IK’s tweets went out!” she added.

On Monday, PM Imran during a meeting with TV anchors and reporters in the federal capital, said that he had received a letter from the US president. In the letter, Trump asked Pakistan to play its role in Afghan peace talks, which are aimed at catalysing an end to the 17-year invasion of Afghanistan by US troops.

The prime minister said Trump had sought Pakistan’s assistance in bringing the Taliban leadership to the negotiating table. “We will try to make the Afghan Taliban engage in dialogue with the US,” the prime minister replied when asked about the way forward following Trump’s letter.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trump in the letter stated that his most important regional priority was achieving a negotiated settlement of the Afghan war and in this regard, the US president sought Pakistan’s support and facilitation.

The letter came days after the US president launched another tirade at Pakistan, alleging that the country “would take our money and do nothing for us.”

“….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!” Trump had tweeted on November 19.

Published in Daily Times, December 5^th 2018.