Suspending military aid to Pak 'not done lightly', says Bolton

The US' decision to suspend USD 300 million in military aid to Pakistan was not taken lightly, said National Security Adviser John Bolton, while adding that, the Trump administration had apprehensions regarding Islamabad which is a Nuclear weapons state, falling into the hands of terrorists.

"It was before my time, but the Trump administration did not take the decision to cancel a substantial part of the military aid package to Pakistan lightly, Dawn quoted Bolton as he delivered a speech earlier this week in Washington.

"It was done knowing full well that Pakistan is a nuclear weapons state, and the risk that the government could fall into the hands of terrorists that would get control of those nuclear weapons was particularly serious."

However, the country's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, on his visit to Pakistan last week, said that there is a still a possibility of improving the ties between the two countries if Pakistan cooperates fully in the war against terrorism, which they promised to do, Dawn reported.

Pompeo also urged the Imran Khan government to rein in the terrorist groups, which is a "matter of extraordinary importance for the United States."

On September 1, the Trump government announced it planned to suspend the military aid to Islamabad citing reasons that it failed to take actions against terrorists.

In January, US President Donald Trump, in a scathing attack to the then Pakistan government said that it had given the United States nothing but "lies and deceit" and his country has "foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years".