Pakistan’s Tough Talk Remains Limited To Words, Military And Intel Cooperation With US Not Suspended

A day after Pakistan said it has suspended military and intelligence cooperation with the United States, the latter’s embassy in Islamabad denied the claim saying it had not received any official communication in this respect, Voice of America has reported.

"We have not received any formal communication regarding a suspension," Embassy spokesman Richard Snelsire has been quoted as saying.

Speaking at the Institute for Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan’s Defence Minister had claimed that there is "... a wide field of intelligence cooperation and defense cooperation, which we have suspended." The ground and air lines of communication, provided to the US for sending supplies to Afghanistan, have not been suspended, the minister had said.

"Pakistan does not want to put a price on its sacrifices but wants them to be recognised," the defence minister was quoted by Dawn as saying.

The claim was made in the backdrop of deteriorating relations between the two countries on account of Pakistan Army’s continuous support for terror groups such as the Taliban and the Haqqani Network. President Donald Trump, in his first tweet of 2018, accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but "lies and deceit". Following on President Trump’s twitter talk, the US suspended about $1.2 billion in security aid to it to Pakistani and called on Islamabad to act against terror outfits.

The US, it has been reported, is also looking for alternative supply routes to support its war efforts in Afghanistan. Islamabad had in 2011 blocked supply routes to Afghanistan in reaction to an airstrike by the US-led forces against terror targets in that killed 26 Pakistani soldiers. US’ move to look for alternative routes, experts say, suggests the Trump administration is planning to increase pressure on Pakistan.