US States Dept confirms Trump sent letter to PM Khan seeking support

WASHINGTON: The US Department of States and National Security Council have confirmed that President Donald Trump had sent a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan seeking his support in Afghanistan.

According to details, Prime Minister Imran Khan in an interview with TV anchors on December 3, said he had received a letter from President Trump, wherein the US asked Pakistan to play its role in Afghan peace talks, aimed at ending the 17-year invasion of Afghanistan by the US troops.

The letter was not shared with the media, however, the National Security Council spokesperson informed that the US president requested full cooperation from Pakistan for the Afghan peace process.

The spokesperson added that the letter acknowledges that “Pakistan has the ability to deny the Taliban sanctuary on its territory.”

“Pakistan’s assistance with the Afghan peace process is fundamental to building an enduring US-Pakistan partnership,” the letter further read as per the spokesperson.

Trump vs Imran: The war of words

On November 19, US president launched an outburst against Pakistan alleging that America paid Pakistan billions of dollars and they never told them that Osama was living there.

“Of course we should have captured Osama Bin Laden long before we did. I pointed him out in my book just BEFORE the attack on the World Trade Center. President Clinton famously missed his shot. We paid Pakistan Billions of Dollars & they never told us he was living there. Fools!

“…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!” he wrote on his Twitter account.

Prime Minister Imran Khan hit back at President Donald Trump’s statement against Pakistan by saying that instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for US failures, the Trump administration should do a serious assessment of why the Taliban are stronger in Afghanistan than before.

Pakistan has suffered enough in the US war on terror and now it would do what was best for its people, said Mr. Khan in his Twitter response to Trump.

The PM said: “Instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures, the US should do a serious assessment of why, despite 140000 NATO troops plus 250,000 Afghan troops & reportedly $1 trillion spent on war in Afghanistan, the Taliban today are stronger than before.”