US Secretary of State Tillerson called PM Abbasi while Pakistan responded to allegations of President Trump for housing terrorists
Monitoring Desk: US Secretary for State Rex Tillerson called Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and discussed Pak-US relations before US President Trump address his nation.
Meanwhile, Pakistani cabinet discussed allegations raised by US President Trump of housing terrorists in Pakistan and the issue will be discussed in detail in the meeting of the National Security Committee, already scheduled to be held on 24 August 2017, for a comprehensive policy response.
According to a press statement issued by Foreign Office of Pakistan after Pakistan held cabinet on late Tuesday evening, Pakistan has taken note of President Trump statement outlining elements of a new US policy on Afghanistan and South Asia. Talking to journalists during a press briefing in Washington D.C, Tillerson stated he called Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi before speech of President Trump and stated that Pakistan can (could) play an important role in delivering the Taliban to the negotiating table and US is (was) ready to help Pakistan address terrorist organizations inside of Pakistan but Pakistan must adopt a different approach.
“We are going to be conditioning our support for Pakistan and our relationship with them on them delivering results in this area. We want to work with Pakistan in a positive way, but they must change their approach.
“Well, I had a good call with the prime minister of Pakistan yesterday afternoon to give them a bit of a forewarning of what they were going to hear in the President’s speech. And also, we did touch on the points I’ve made to you today. We are going to be engaging with them in a very serious and thorough way as to our expectations and the conditions that go with that. And all of those things you just listed are on the table for discussion if, in fact, they are (Pakistan) unwilling to change their posture or change their approach to how they’re dealing with the numerous terrorist organizations that find safe haven inside of Pakistan. Again, it is in Pakistan’s interest to take those actions”, commented Tillerson.
“Pakistan must adopt a different approach, and we are ready to work with them to help them protect themselves against these terrorist organizations, but certainly to begin to end their attacks that are disrupting our efforts at peace. We are going to be conditioning our support for Pakistan and our relationship with them on them delivering results in this area. We want to work with Pakistan in a positive way, but they must change their approach”, added Tillerson.
Complete press conference of State of State Rex Tillerson can be watch to click this link
