External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was referring to the 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the 9/11 terror attacks, and said the military that Trump is trusting now was the one who sheltered the dreaded terrorist deep inside their house.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday took a jibe at the US and Pakistan, referring to the growing closeness between the two countries, and while reminding Washington that 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden’s hideout was in Abbottabad, said they have a history, and a history of “overlooking” that history.
“They have a history with each other. And they have a history of overlooking their history. It is the same military that went into Abbottabad (in Pakistan) and found who (Bin Laden) there?” Jaishankar said in reply to a question about the growing cosiness between the US and Pakistan after the latter’s recent military conflict with India.
Jaishankar was referring to the 2011 killing of Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden, who orchestrated the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the US, and said the military that Trump is trusting now was the one who sheltered the terrorist deep inside their house.
Last month, Pakistan’s Field Marshal General Asim Munir was invited to Washington for a meeting with Trump.
It marked a rare instance where a country’s military chief was exclusively invited by a sitting US President. This was the first such meeting between a high-ranking Pakistani military chief and a sitting US President since India’s Operation Sindoor.
The US gesture to the top-ranked Pakistani military official came after Pakistan’s call for Donald Trump to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, as Munir credited the US president with preventing what could have spiralled into a nuclear war between India and Pakistan during their brief military standoff in May.
“The issue is, when countries are very focussed on doing the politics of convenience, they keep trying to do such things. Obviously, I respond to the situation or the challenge of the day, but I also do so, always keeping in mind the larger structural strengths of the relationship, the confidence that comes from it. So, I take it in that spirit,” Jaishankar added.
Trump sought to warm Pakistan’s back after India denied any mediation by any world leader in reaching a ceasefire agreement with Pakistan in the Operation Sindoor aftermath, despite the Republican leader’s repeatedly claiming credit for it.
America’s ties with India have taken a downturn in recent months also because of the ongoing tariff war between the two nations.
At the same event, Jaishankar criticised the US for singling out India over its energy relations with Russia, asking why the same standards were not applied to China or the European Union, which rank among the biggest importers of Russian crude oil and LNG, respectively.
