Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said that the US could not have “forgotten the Osama episode so quickly” after US President Donald Trump hosted Pakistan Field Marshal and COAS General Asim Munir for lunch yesterday in Washington, DC.
Taking a swipe at the visit, Tharoor said that while General Munir was being “wined and dined” or “lunched and munched”, he hoped Trump reminded him about Pakistan’s record of supporting terrorism and offering safe havens to terrorists.
‘I hope Asim Munir got food for thought’
“I have not seen the outcome of the meeting. I have understood that apparently, according to the White House, this general [Asim Munir] has said that the President [Trump] should get a Nobel Peace Prize and so on…. He was invited over the lunch and I hope the food was good and he gets some food for thought in the process,” Tharoor told reporters.
He added, “I would hope that in these interactions, the Americans reminded Pakistan of not supporting terrorism, of not creating a safe haven for terrorists, of not enabling, guiding, training, arming, financing, equipping, and dispatching terrorists to our country from their soil. This is something that some of the American Senators and Congressmen who met the Pakistani delegation, that was there at the same time that my delegation was, did do.”
‘Forgotten Osama episode so quickly’
“People in the US could not have forgotten Osama bin Laden so quickly. He killed many people in the 9/11 attacks and destroyed American soil, two iconic American buildings,” he further added.
“Pakistan’s culpability in hiding this man until he was finally found in a safe house near an Army camp can not easily be forgotten and forgiven by the Americans. I hope while the General was being wined and dined, lunched and munched, he got all these messages at the same time because that would also be in America’s interest,” he further added.