Foreign minister: US ‘should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghanistan’

Pakistan’s foreign minister said Tuesday the U.S. should not make Pakistan a “scapegoat” regarding Afghanistan.

“They should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghanistan,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif said in an interview to Geo TV late Tuesday, Reuters reported.

“Our commitment to war against terrorism is unmatched and unshaken.”

Asif said Pakistan’s “contributions, sacrifices and our role as a coalition country have been disregarded and disrespected.”

The comments come after President Trump on Monday announced his strategy for the Afghanistan War. 

Trump described his plan as a “shift from a time-based approach to one based on conditions,” linking American aid to greater cooperation from the Afghan government, Pakistan, India and others in the region to fighting terrorism and cutting down corruption.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday said Pakistan must do more to crack down on insurgent fighters.

“Pakistan and the U.S. historically had very good relationships, but over the last few years there has been a real erosion in the confidence of between our two governments,” Tillerson told reporters Tuesday afternoon at the State Department.

“There’s been an erosion in trust because we have witnessed terrorist organizations being given a safe haven inside of Pakistan to plan and carry out attacks against U.S. servicemen, U.S. officials, disrupting peace efforts inside of Afghanistan.”