Pakistan army chief: Nation felt “betrayed” by U.S. criticism

ISLAMABAD REUTERS Jan 12   
Pakistan’s army chief told a top U.S. General the nation “felt betrayed” by criticism that it was not doing enough to fight terrorism, the Pakistani military said on Friday, after U.S. President Donald Trump accused Pakistan of “lies and deceit”.   

 U.S. Central Command chief General Joseph Votel told General Qamar Javed Bajwa during a telephone call this week that the United States was not contemplating any unilateral action inside Pakistan, the Pakistani army said in a statement.   

 Tension between the United States and Pakistan has grown over U.S. complaints that the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani network that target American troops in Afghanistan are allowed to take shelter on Pakistani soil.   Trump’s administration last week announced the suspension of about $2 billion in security aid to nuclear-armed Pakistan - officially a U.S. ally - over accusations Islamabad is playing a double game in Afghanistan.   

 Islamabad denies this and accuses the United States of disrespecting its vast sacrifices - casualties have numbered in the tens of thousands - in 
fighting terrorism.   

 Trump’s tweet infuriated Pakistani officials and caught the rest of the U.S. administration 
off guard.   

However, the U.S. military is also concerned that the Pakistani army, which effectively runs foreign policy, might close the air and land corridors on which U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces in landlocked Afghanistan depend for supplies. So far, Pakistan has not done so.