ISLAMABAD, JAN 02 (DNA) – A National Security Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi reached consensus Tuesday that despite all unwarranted allegations, Pakistan cannot act in haste and will remain committed to playing a constructive role towards an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

The meeting called after US President Donald Trump’s Monday tweet in which he threatened to stop all “aid” to Pakistan, accusing Islamabad of harbouring terrorists US is hunting in Afghanistan.

The committee reaffirmed that Pakistanis are a people who hold dear their national pride, who are capable of defending their country, and who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to counter terrorism and to work for regional peace and stability.

Prime Minister (PM) Shahid Khaqan Abbasi presided over a meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Tuesday to deliberate over Pakistan’ stance after United States (US) president Donald Trump called to end aid.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman, defence minister, interior minister, foreign minister, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and top officials of intelligence agencies attended the meeting.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to the States Aizaz Chaudhry arrived in Pakistan to attend the meeting called on emergency basis.

The meeting reviewed statement of Trump and derive a response strategy.

Pakistan’s top civil and armed forces leadership sat together today in the federal capital after Trump accused Pakistan of not doing enough in war on terror and seemingly wasting US aid for the past 15 years, fooling the US leaders.

US Ambassador David Hale was summoned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs hours after Trump’s criticism tweet to appear before the officials on Tuesday and explain president s remarks.

Foreign minister Khawaja Asif had responded to Trump’s tweet by stating that Pakistan would respond to the allegations soon and difference between the facts and fiction would be let known.

The National Security Committee noted its deep disappointment with some of the recent statements articulated by the American leadership. The Committee observed that the close interaction with the US leadership following the initial pronouncement of President Trump’s policy on South Asia had been useful in creating a better understanding of each other’s perspectives on the best way forward to achieve durable peace and stability in Afghanistan. The visits of Secretary Tillerson and Secretary Mattis were also seen by the Committee as robust and forward-looking.

The Committee observed that given this positive direction of progression, recent statements and articulation by the American leadership were completely incomprehensible as they contradicted facts manifestly, struck with great insensitivity at the trust between two nations built over generations, and negated the decades of sacrifices made by the Pakistani nation – a nation that has contributed so significantly to regional and global security and peace.

The participants noted that over the past several years, Pakistan’s counter terrorism campaign has served as a bulwark against possible expansion of scores of terrorist organizations currently present in Afghanistan – a fact acknowledged by US authorities at the highest levels. Most of these terrorists have repeatedly launched cross border attacks against innocent Pakistanis with impunity by exploiting presence of millions of Afghan refugees in Pakistan, a porous Pak-Afghan border and large tracts of ungoverned spaces inside Afghanistan.

The Committee observed that Pakistan has fought the war against terrorism primarily out of its own resources and at a great cost to its economy, and that even more importantly the huge sacrifices made by Pakistan, including the loss of tens of thousands of lives of Pakistani civilians and security personnel, and the pain of their families, could not be trivialised so heartlessly by pushing all of it behind a monetary value – and that too an imagined one.

The Committee further observed that even today Pakistan was firmly supporting the US-led international effort in Afghanistan; that it was continuously facilitating this through vital lines of communications for smooth counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan by the international coalition; that as a result of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism cooperation, Al-Qaeda had been decimated from the region; and that it was mostly because of this support that Pakistan was suffering a brutal backlash, including the killing of hundred of its schoolchildren by terrorists based in Afghanistan.

The Committee was of the firm view that the real challenges in Afghanistan were political infighting, massive corruption, phenomenal growth of drug production and expansion of ungoverned spaces inside Afghanistan full of sanctuaries for multiple international terrorist organisations, posing a serious and direct threat to Afghanistan, its neighbours and the entire region. The Committee observed that Pakistan cannot be held responsible for the collective failure in Afghanistan and that blaming allies certainly does not serve the shared objective of achieving lasting peace in Afghanistan and the region.

The Committee reached a consensus that despite all unwarranted allegations, Pakistan cannot act in haste and will remain committed to playing a constructive role towards an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, not just for the sake of its own people, but also for the peace and security of the region and international community. The Committee reaffirmed that Pakistanis are a people who hold dear their national pride, who are capable of defending their country, and who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to counter terrorism and to work for regional peace and stability.