Islamabad (Agencies): The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday lashed out at the United States (US) hours after Vice President Mike Pence’s warning that the Trump administration has “put Pakistan on notice”, once again accusing Pakistan of “harbouring terrorists and providing safe havens to them”.
“Allies do not put each other on notice,” the FO statement said, noting that Pence's scathing remarks were “at variance with the extensive conversations we [Islamabad] have had with the US administration”.
Pence made the remarks at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan after an unannounced trip to the country on Thursday.
“On notice should be those factors responsible for exponential increase in drug production, expansion of ungoverned spaces, industrial scale corruption, breakdown of governance, and letting Daesh gain a foothold in Afghanistan,” he added.
Pakistan has much to lose by harbouring ‘criminals and terrorists’, warns US vice president
The spokesperson stressed that “focus should be on creating peace and reconciliation mechanisms. “Finally, externalising blame should be put on notice,” he remarked.
The work on a new strategy for future relations with the United States has entered an important phase as Pakistan is gradually finalising its policy keeping in view the international situation and Donald’s Trump new policy.