US trip not cancelled, Pakistan can do sans Washington aid: Asif

ISLAMABAD: After attending the National Security Committee (NSC) meeting today, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif assured that his trip to the United States has not been cancelled, adding that Pakistan can survive without aid from Washington.

The minister made it clear that Islamabad has played no role in destablising its neighbouring country Afghanistan, expressing support for global efforts to restore peace in the region. 

While giving a policy statement in Senate, he said terrorist groups based in Afghanistan plan attacks in Pakistan.

He slammed India over its role of spreading terrorism in Afghanistan and called it a sensitive issue. India wants to destablise Pakistan from both east and west, he said, "100s of billions on Afghan war effort… instead spend few billion & repatriate refugees from Pakistan and resettle in Afghanistan… will bring huge dividends."

Khawaja Asif further mentioned that NSC members condemned aggressive Indian policies of waging war in the region, calling it a threat to regional peace and interfering in the sovereignty of neighbouring countries. He accused India of using terrorists in order to fulfil its state policies.

Meanwhile, he took to Twitter and criticised ex-President and PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari. "Former President Asif Zardari instead of criticising govt, rein in Haqqani his ambassador to US taking credit of authoring US policy Pres Trump announced," he said. - NNI