Abu Dhabi: The Pakistani expatriate community in the UAE has reacted strongly to US President Donald Trump’s tweet of stopping aid to Pakistan by reiterating that Pakistan is a peace-loving country which relies on its own rich resources and does not need aid from the United States.
Trump pledged on Monday to stop aid to Pakistan saying that the US has foolishly handed Pakistan more than $33 billion in aid over the past 15 years while getting nothing in return.
Members of the Pakistani expatriate community said that Pakistan has contributed significantly to the welfare of the US in the region and has stood shoulder to shoulder in Afghanistan’s war against terror and even now, Pakistan provides huge support to their Afghani brothers and the support would continue, they said.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dr Qaiser Anis, president of Pakistan Business Professional Council in Abu Dhabi, said, “I don’t see Trump’s tweet as a big thing. In fact, we have contributed to the US immensely in war against terrorism and, his claim of US$33 billion aid to Pakistan, is a wrong statement.”
“If $33 billion had been given to Pakistan, it would have progressed 10 times more. The US dictated to us to enter the Afghan war with Russia and we made them successful but they are a thankless people,” Dr Anis said.
“This aid does not come to us in any way. It goes into the pockets of their consultants. Still, the US is supposed to pay our army and ammunition bills, which they haven’t yet settled,” he said.
Americans need to discipline themselves when acting like a superpower, Dr Anis added. It’s a great country with great people, and they should stop dismembering countries for their defence sales profits, he said.
Another Pakistani expatriate, Raja Ikramul Haque, a banker in Dubai, said, “We don’t need any aid from anybody; our country can stand on its own with its own means and resources.”
Referring to Trump's tweets, he said they have no standing. “We keep supporting America's cause in the region and it should be thankful to us," he said.
Haque said: "Pakistan has all the resources to finance its own requirements and we are doing good. We will live and we are living good. If the US has given aid Pakistan it should be clear about who got it, what were the causes and circumstances in which it was given, said Haque.
Dr Talat Mahmoud, a resident in Abu Dhabi, said, “We should strive to live by our own resources and I don’t feel a sense of panic due what Trump has tweeted. In a different way, it may be good for our country. We have the resources and we should further develop them to live respectfully. We should not be begging for aid and we don’t need it.
“There could be a reason behind the [US] aid, we don’t know. I think my country should prosper without anybody’s support,” Dr Mahmoud said.
