This Article is From Jan 18, 2018

Can Live Without US Aid, But Not Without Integrity: Pak Foreign Minister

Addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Mr Asif said that relations with Washington were not normal following tirades by US President Donald Trump, the News International reported on Thursday.

Can Live Without US Aid, But Not Without Integrity: Pak Foreign Minister

"We have to stand up to those who accuse us of harbouring terrorists," Pak minister said.

Islamabad: Pakistan is trying to maintain a balance in its relationship with the US and the government has made it clear that Islamabad can live without Washington's aid but will not compromise on national integrity, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif has said.

Addressing the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Mr Asif said that relations with Washington were not normal following tirades by US President Donald Trump, the News International reported on Thursday.

He also said that Pakistan could no more host millions of Afghan refugees. The minister stressed that Pakistan had been repeatedly seeking assistance for repatriation of Afghan refugees and to work on border management with Afghanistan.

The Foreign Minister told the meeting that continuous jibes at Pakistan were "all accusations to put responsibility of the US failures in Afghanistan on Pakistan".

"We have to stand up to those who accuse us of harbouring terrorists," he said.

President Donald Trump's had ordered for a freeze on aid to Pakistan earlier in the month, estimated to be worth almost two billion dollars, a senior US administration official had said.

The move -- designed to force Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus to cut support for the Taliban and other terror groups -- will include both US military assistance and Afghanistan coalition funding to Islamabad.

It is "approximately two billion worth of equipment and coalition support funding that is in play," the senior official had said on condition of anonymity. 
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