ISLAMABAD: A senior Pakistani minister and top aide of Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday claimed that US President Donald Trump was "compelled" to do a "reality check", days after his offensive tweets against Islamabad for failing to help America in combating terrorism.
Taking to Twitter a day after Khan said the US president has written a letter to him, the Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari said Trump was compelled to seek help from Pakistan in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table to end the brutal war in Afghanistan which has been going on for 17 years.
Last month Trump also said Pakistan does not do "a damn thing" for the US, saying Islamabad helped al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden hide near its garrison city of Abbottabad.
Mazari, known to be a hawk, in a series of tweets, said, "PM Imran Khan's response to Trump's offensive tweets against Pakistan compelled Trump to do a reality check and write to PM Khan asking for help in bringing peace to Afghanistan!" "So much for those in Pakistan who were quivering after Imran Khan's tweets went out!" she added.
In response to Trump's anti-Pakistan comments, Khan had hit back, advising Washington to assess its efficiency in the war on terror instead of making Pakistan a scapegoat for its failure.
Meanwhile, Mazari also criticised US State Department's Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad for his approach towards Pakistan.
She advised tough-talking Khalilzad to bring a "less arrogant and hostile mindset" during his ongoing visit to Islamabad.
Khalilzad, the veteran US diplomat tasked with making efforts to end the bloody war in Afghanistan, is known as a blunt negotiator.
Although both the US and Pakistan now have a commonality of views on seeking a political solution to the Afghan problem, the trust deficit between the two is the real stumbling block.
Relations between the two countries are tense despite recent efforts to reset the troubled ties, the Express Tribune reported.
At the heart of their stalemate is the US insistence on Pakistan to do more to bring the Afghan Taliban on to the negotiating table.
Washington still believes that Islamabad holds a considerable sway over the insurgent group.
Pakistan, however, insists that bringing the Taliban on the negotiating table is a shared responsibility of all the players.