Pak needs no material, financial help from US but seeks recognition of its contribution

• Peace in Afghanistan is as important for us as for any other country;
• COAS General Bajwa tells US Ambassador Hale in equivocal terms;
• Bajwa seeks collaboration, synergy of effort between all stakeholders
• US envoy briefs Army Chief about new US policy vis. Afghanistan;
• Tells COAS that US values Pakistan's role in the war against terror;
• US seeks Pakistan's help to bring about peace in Afghanistan: ISPR 

RAWALPINDI:  Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistan was not looking for any material or financial assistance from USA but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions.

This he said while speaking to American Ambassador to Pakistan David Hale who called on Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) at GHQ in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

The meeting comes a day after US President Donald Trump said his country could no longer be silent about Pakistan's 'safe havens' for militants and warned it had much to lose by continuing to 'harbor terrorists'.

Although opposition parties PPP and PTI have condemned Trump's remarks, the government was yet to give an official response.

According to the ISPR, the US ambassador briefed the army chief about the new US policy regarding Afghanistan.

The ambassador said that US values Pakistan's role in the war against terror and is seeking cooperation from Pakistan to resolve the Afghan issue.

Speaking on the occasion, COAS said peace in Afghanistan is as important for Pakistan as for any other country. "We have done a lot towards that end and shall keep on doing our best, not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy."

"We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from USA but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions," he said.

Collaboration and synergy of effort between all stakeholders is the key to success to bring this long drawn war in Afghanistan to its logical confusion, the COAS concluded.

Trump committed on Monday the United States to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan, signaling he would dispatch more troops to America's longest war and vowing 'a fight to win'.

Trump insisted that others - the Afghan government, Pakistan, India and NATO allies - step up their own commitment to resolving the 16-year conflict, but he saved his sharpest words for Pakistan.

Senior US officials warned security assistance for Pakistan could be reduced unless the nuclear-armed nation cooperated more in preventing militants from using safe havens on its soil.

Meanwhile, according to ISPR, US Ambassador David Hale sought on Wednesday Islamabad's help to resolve the crisis in war-torn Afghanistan.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Hale called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at GHQ ion Rawalpindi to brief him on the new US policy on Afghanistan and South Asia.

"The ambassador said that the US valued Pakistan's role in the war against terror and is seeking cooperation from Pakistan to resolve the Afghan issue," the military's media wing said in a statement.

General Qamar said Pakistan had done a lot towards the end of terrorism, and shall continue doping that "not to appease anyone but in line with our national interest and national policy".

"We are not looking for any material or financial assistance from USA but trust, understanding and acknowledgement of our contributions," the army chief was quoted as saying. The COAS said collaboration and synergy of effort between all stakeholders was the key to bring the long drawn war in Afghanistan to its logical conclusion. - NNI