LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif says the statement of US President Donald Trump on American aid to Pakistan is highly irresponsible.

In a statement on Tuesday, the chief minister said Trump had levelled serious allegations against Pakistan and its people and the whole nation should give a united response to it.

“In the backdrop of this statement, it is the need of the hour that we should sanely and intelligently design our future line of action by maintaining national unity. All segments of the country, including political parties, national leadership, military establishment as well as other stakeholders should play their role in formation of this unified strategy,” he added. Mr Sharif said that military leadership had rightfully made it clear that the nation would give a befitting response in case of any aggression against the country.

ASEFF: Former foreign minister and PTI leader Sardar Aseff Ahmad Ali has suggested that Pakistan should give a calm reaction to US President Donald Trump’s tweet, saying it should not indulge in retaliation and should react in a measured way.

“Donald Trump’s government is running on tweets and it has no considered policy,” he said while talking to Dawn during his election campaign in NA-139 on Tuesday in Kasur.

Sardar Assef said President Trump had already threatened various countries like Germany, China, North Korea, Turkey and Russia, and now he was issuing threats to Pakistan.

“It’s on record that the US government behaves cordially whenever there is a dictator in Pakistan but turns hostile when the country is ruled by an elected government.”

He said it would be impossible for the US to have peace in Afghanistan without Pakistan as the latter could play a significant role in bringing about peace and harmony there.

Sardar Assef said America had spent $2 trillion in Afghanistan but miserably failed in the war.

“Trump is now blaming Pakistan for its failure only to avoid embarrassment before his people.”

The PTI leader said that $33bn was not a significant figure as a collision support fund in the lapse of 16 years.

“The US wants to sell its hardware and F-16 planes at commercial rates and it is making lame excuses to shun discounts,” he said.

The former minister suggested that instead of doing more with the US, Pakistan, China and Russia should initiate dialogue with the Afghan government and the Taliban to bring about peace in the region. SIRAJ: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) emir Senator Sirajul Haq condemned Trump’s tirade against Pakistan, saying the US was leveling false allegations against the country after its defeat in Afghanistan.

Reacting to Trump’s tweet, the JI chief said the Zionist lobby in America was continuously instigating Trump for a war against Pakistan for their arms sale.

He said Trump’s allegation against Pakistan regarding shelter to terrorist outfits was baseless because Pakistan itself was being attacked by terrorists hiding in the so-called Indian consulates in Afghanistan.

The JI chief called upon the civil and military leadership of the country to immediately distance itself from the US war and demand compensation for the heavy losses of life, property and logistics that Pakistan had suffered in the war.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2018