US shouldn’t give Pak even one dollar: Haley

New York, December 10

Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists that turn around and kill American soldiers, US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has said, asserting that Washington should not blindly give Islamabad even a dollar until it steps up efforts to combat terrorism.

Haley, the first Indian-American ever appointed to a Cabinet position in any US presidential administration, said the US did not need to give money to countries that wish harm to America, go behind its back and try and “stop us from doing things”.

“...I think there should be a strategic view on which countries we partner with, which ones we count on to work with us on certain things, and move forward accordingly. I think we just blindly allow money to keep going without thinking that this is real leverage. We have to use it,” Haley told US magazine ‘The Atlantic’.

“The one example I’ll give you is, look at Pakistan. Giving them over a billion dollars, and they continue to harbour terrorists that turn around and kill our soldiers — that’s never okay. We shouldn’t even give them a dollar until they correct it. Use the billion dollars. That’s not a small amount of change,” she said.

Haley will step down as the UN envoy at the end of this year. US President Donald Trump last week nominated chief State Department spokeswoman and a former Fox News journalist Heather Nauert as Haley’s successor.

In October, Haley announced she was leaving the post by the end of the year. The 46-year-old former South Carolina governor has served nearly two years in the post.

Asked if she does not agree that foreign aid can turn an adversary into an ally, or can make a country more favourable than it would be otherwise, Haley said, “No, I think it absolutely can. I think that you do have to use it as leverage.”

In September, the Trump administration cancelled $300 million in military aid to Islamabad for not doing enough against terror groups active on its soil.

The relations between Pakistan and the United States nosedived this January after President Trump accused Islamabad of giving nothing to Washington but “lies and deceit” and providing “safe haven” to terrorists.

“The US has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies and deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” he wrote. — PTI

Will continue to support Kashmiris: Imran

Pakistan would continue to lend full diplomatic, political and moral support to the people of J&K, PM Imran Khan said on Monday. “On the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we reaffirm our diplomatic, political and moral support to the people of J&K in their struggle for human dignity, respect and inalienable right to self-determination,” he said. Terming this year a significant for Pakistan as it has joined the UNHRC, he said, “The membership is a testimony to the confidence of the global community in Pakistan, as a consensus builder within the human rights policy framework.” PTI