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01-28-2018, 11:16 AM
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Nawaz?s disqualification was solely SC?s doing: PM
?I am from Nawaz Sharif?s party. We have worked together for over 30 years. I?ll run in the 2018 election again,? he said in an interview with Washington Post conducted on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday. Asked if he would like being prime minister again, Abbasi said he liked challenges. ?It?s the pinnacle of parliamentary politics ? there is no doubt about it. I have certain priorities in life, including quality education for our people.? Answering a question, he said Pakistan will continue to provide air and ground logistics to the US troops stationed in Afghanistan in spite of the aid cut, as Islamabad believes it helps the war against terrorism, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said in an interview to the Washington Post. ?No. That will continue. Because we believe that helps in the war against terror,? he said . Abbasi said Pakistan has extended support to the US in the fight against terrorism and that it would not be affected by President Trump?s statement and the aid-cut. He was replying to a question if that assistance would be affected by President Trump?s statements. ?It (assistance) helps brings stability to Pakistan, so we support that effort.? To a question, Abbasi said relations between Pakistan and the US kept changing with the presidents and the Congress. ?This has been a relationship that has not been one of trust or stability,? he said. But, while Pakistan provided unconditional support to the US after 9/11, the American quid pro is poor,? the PM said, adding even after the US aid cut, Pakistan continued to provide the US with air and ground logistics for Afghanistan without any contract or payment. There has been over 1.1 million US overflights within Pakistani airspace used to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and millions of tons of equipment and cargo is transported to American troops using the Pakistani land routes. Asked how he would respond to President Trump?s tweet in which he accused Pakistan of not being fully cooperative, Abbasi said the ground realities did not support his assertion. ?We are committed to fighting the war against terror. There are no two ways about it. We have assisted the US forces and will continue to assist them,? he said, adding that Pakistan has always acted upon actual US intelligence against terrorists. ?We have destroyed the sanctuaries. There has not been a single instance where if actual intelligence has been provided, it has not been acted upon,? he added. Prime Minister Abbasi said there are no sanctuaries in Pakistan and that the country is ready to take action if someone provided a location.To the contrary, the prime minister pointed out that last year 29 suicide bombers crossed over from Afghanistan into Pakistan and attacked government installations and people, including an attack on the convoy of the deputy chair of the Senate that killed 22 people. Replying to a question, the prime minister said Pakistan and the US had have a very strong relationship, but it has gone downhill in the past 15 years. He said Pakistan has received minimal US aid in the last 15 years or so. But, he clarified there is no economic aid and the security assistance that the US provided to Pakistan is the Coalition Support Fund which it reimburses to Pakistan for the expenses that were made in support of the US forces in Afghanistan. ?The Security assistance is minimal. There were some military sales ? we bought some F-16 fighters, which we did not receive. All that has done is degrade our ability to fight terrorists,? said the prime minister alluding to the cut in security assistance. Emphasizing Pakistan?s firm commitment to root out terrorism and extremism from its soil, Prime Minister Abbasi said the country is fighting the largest war on terror in the world. ?We have 200,000 troops fighting a war against terror today on the western border. We have lost 6,500 troops. We have defeated the same enemy the rest of the world failed to defeat in Afghanistan, on the same terrain, with our own resources.? About the situation in Afghanistan, the prime minister said most of the areas along the border with Pakistan are controlled by the Taliban and the Afghan government has a minimal control there. He said Pakistan shared 2,000 plus kilometer border with Afghanistan and of that there is not a single Afghan soldier or a post on the 700 kilometers stretch. ?Drug trafficking is at the highest level we have seen in 50 years,? he said, adding that Pakistan had now started fencing the border on its side and is spending billions of dollar on that. ?We are trying to keep the drugs out, the terrorists out. It is a fluid order: 60,000 to 70,000 undocumented people cross the border every day,? he said. When his attention was drawn to the US announcement about re-engaging in Afghanistan and sending troops there, the prime minister said war is no solution to the Afghan conflict and the Afghans would have to sit down and resolve their problems. Speaking on the Pakistan-China relations, the prime minister said that the two countries have enjoyed relationship for 70 years and it is a growing relationship. The two countries have military and economic cooperation and now China is investing billions of dollars in Pakistan through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. He said investment is not a gift but a package of financial assistance to build projects while cooperation with American companies continued on a secondary level. Towards the end of the interview when asked what would be his message to President Trump, the prime minister replied: ?My message would be to look at Pakistan?s viewpoint. The reality of Pakistan is very different from the perception he has. Pakistan is a US ally. It is a partner against the same enemy, which is terror?. أكثر... ??????? ??????: Nawaz?s disqualification was solely SC?s doing: PM || ??????: ahlam1399 || ??????: اسم منتداك
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