Pak PM: US anti-Pakistan sanctions could hurt fight against terrorism

US-Pakistan relations have been facing a downward trend since President Donald Trump announced his new strategy for Afghanistan and South Asia denouncing Pakistan for allegedly allowing terrorists to maintain safe havens inside its territory.

Trump’s speech was perceived by many, including the Pakistani government and parliament, as a direct threat to the country’s sovereignty.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in an interview with Reuters, said that any targeted sanctions by Washington against Pakistani military and intelligence officials would not help US counter-terrorism efforts. “We are fighting the war against terror, anything that degrades our effort will only hurt the US effort,” he said.

Washington’s civilian and military assistance to Pakistan was less than $ 1 billion in 2016, down from a peak of $ 3.5 billion in 2011, and Abbasi warned that the US will not achieve its counter-terrorism aims by starving Pakistan of funds.

Abbasi said one practical side-effect of military aid cuts and the US Congress blocking the sale of subsidised F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan will be to force Islamabad to buy weapons from China and Russia. “We’ve had to look at other options to maintain our national defensive forces,” he said.

“We have a major economic relationship with (China), we have had a major military relationship since the 1960s, so that’s definitely one of our options,” Abbasi said.

The prime minister said it was “unfair” to blame Pakistan for all the troubles in Afghanistan, stressing that Washington should show more appreciation for Pakistan’s losses from militancy and its role in hosting 3.5 million Afghan refugees.

He added that Afghan-based militants have also launched cross-border attacks on Pakistani civilians and military, prompting Islamabad to begin investing ‘several billion dollars’ to fence the porous 2,500 km border.

“We intend to fence the whole border to control that situation,” he added.

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