ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s newly elected prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi who has only been in power for only a month warned the United States that it risks sparking more terrorism in the region and undermining all of the military efforts that have already been put in Afghanistan if the white house follows through with its threat of downgrading its relationship with Pakistan.
Reports surfaced earlier that the United States was mulling over stripping Pakistan of its ally status because of failing in tackling the monster that is terrorism.
Abbasi stated that Pakistan could also look into the matter of stopping the purchase of F-16’s from American company Lockheed Martin in order to pressurise the US into not changing its policy towards Pakistan and maintaining its alliance.
“We would like to buy more F16s, but we do have other options,” said the PM. “We have a long relationship with both the French and the Chinese, and we have been developing the JF-17 alongside the Chinese, which in may ways meets or even exceeds the specifications of the F16.”
He did not go into detail about which other levers Pakistan might pull, others in Islamabad were clearer.
Abbasi did not go into detail about what moves Pakistan could make in order to change America’s stance or make it re-think any opposing move.
The premier said that he found American policy towards Pakistan ‘confusing’ and that he relies on media reports to get an idea of Trump’s plans for the region.
“The signals we get from Washington are confusing, but our message is very clear: we are committed to fighting terror and we will continue to fight terror,” Abbasi said.
Adding that “All it will do [if the US downgrades Pakistan as an ally] is degrade our efforts to fight terror, and I am not sure if that will work for the US.”
Abbasi’s term is potentially going to be a short one as the 2018 general elections draw near, but it will play a vital role in shaping up America’s policy towards Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Donald Trump had announced a reversal of the US approach towards the region just three weeks after Abbasi’s election.
A meeting between Abbasi and US vice president Mike Pence is expected to take place in Newyork aswell as a meeting between Pakistan’s foreign minister Khawaja Asif and his counterpart Rex Tillerson is also said to be in the pipeline.
Abbasi admitted to limitations in operations near the Afghan border but insisted that Pakistan is doing all it can to counter terrorism and eliminate terrorists groups like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban and will continue to do so in the near future.
