It is good that some realisation has started seeping down the American thinking that Pakistan has never been sincere as far as not supporting terror and organisations sympathetic to the cause of terrorism. The American move comes as a major blow to Pakistan at the start of New Year 2018. US has conveyed that there will be no more financial aid given to Pakistan. Making the announcement public, President Donald Trump took to Twitter and while slamming Pakistan for supporting terrorism and providing safe haven for terrorists said, “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump also said that Pakistan has been providing safe haven to terrorists they have been hunting in Afghanistan. Following this big crackdown, there has been no official reaction from Islamabad of cutting all aides to Pakistan. This is not first time when Pakistan was slammed by US over sponsoring terrorism and providing safe havens for terrorists. Time and again, the world has slammed Pakistan for allowing terrorism to perpetrate in its backyard. As per the US Government’s aid-tracker, the US government has given Pakistan $16+ billion in aid since 2002, i.e. around the time since the war on terror began. A significant portion of the aid was for military purposes so that Pakistan may tackle terrorist elements along its border with Afghanistan. However, on several occasions over the last decade, Pakistan has shown a clear unwillingness to take action against terror. There have been numerous terrorist attacks on India that were launched from Pakistani soil, and notably, Osama Bin Laden, 26/11 plotter had to be neutralised by US forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad where he had been living within close proximity of a Pak military installation for years. India has been vociferous about Pakistan’s role in spreading terrorism much ahead of US and other world powers. At least today America realises that it had befriended a country which is inimical to mankind and peace. Better late than never!
