ISLAMABAD: Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor has said that the United States’ threats against Pakistan with respect to the latter’s alleged support for militant groups can harm the existing coordination and cooperation between the two countries, DawnNews reported in its programme Dusra Rukh.
Ghafoor when asked to comment on recent threats by US officials, including the warning that US President Donald Trump has “put Pakistan on notice”, said that the state responds to such statements through diplomatic and Foreign Office channels. He, however, made it clear that such threats can “negatively affect” the existing cooperation.
Talking about the issue of US funding to Pakistan, he said that the payments were made under the Coalition Support Fund, which in its essence was “reimbursement” of the amount Pakistan had already spent in the war against terrorism, “under their [the US] coordination”.
“If they [the US] demand us to fight for them because they paid us, [then they should know that] Pakistan is not fighting for money,” he said. “We are not looking for any money, we are not for sale, a trust-based relationship is the only way forward,” he added.
He highlighted that Pakistan has been cooperating with the US significantly over the years in the war against terrorism. He claimed that the US would be unable to defeat Al Qaeda without Pakistan’s support.
Pakistan has supported the US before and after 9/11, he said, adding that the relations should be kept intact.
“Allies and partners do not give notices to each other, neither do they indulge in a blame game,” he said.
