Continue to pay in blood for what we did for US: Khawaja Asif

ISLAMABAD: Former defence minister Khawaja Asif on Monday responded to US President Donald Trump’s statement that “[Pakistan] does not do a damn thing” for them and said that the country continues to pay in blood for the actions taken for America.

Taking to Twitter, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader said, “We continue to pay in blood for what we did for USA from Badaber to fighting wars which weren't ours.”

“Reinvented our religion to suit US interests, destroyed our tolerant ethos, replaced it with bigotry and intolerance. A relationship of betrayals and sanctions,” Asif asserted.

The former defence minister's response came to Trump's statement while speaking to Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday.

Trump alleged that Pakistan does “not do a damn thing” for the US and accused Islamabad of helping Osama bin Laden hide there. 

"You know, living – think of this – living in Pakistan, beautifully in Pakistan in what I guess they considered a nice mansion, I don’t know, I’ve seen nicer," Trump said, referring to bin Laden and his former compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The compound was demolished shortly after United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group forces killed bin Laden there in a late-night helicopter raid in 2011.

"But living in Pakistan right next to the military academy, everybody in Pakistan knew he was there," he added. "And we give Pakistan $1.3 billion a year . ... [bin Laden] lived in Pakistan, we’re supporting Pakistan, we’re giving them $1.3 billion a year -- which we don’t give them anymore, by the way. I ended it because they don’t do anything for us, they don’t do a damn thing for us," the US president said.