The United States won't let disinformation come in the way of strong bilateral relations with Pakistan, the State Department said in a statement on Monday.

 

In an unusually strongly worded statement, the US State Department said it would not allow disinformation to come in the way of its bilateral relationship with Pakistan, which is going through a rough patch currently. The statement came after US President Donald Trump criticized Pakistan on Monday, saying the country had given the United States nothing but lies and deceit and safe haven to terrorists. Trump's comments were provoked by the Pakistan government releasing on Friday jailed Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav in an apparent attempt to de-escalate simmering tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.

United States

We have deep and longstanding relationships with many Pakistani partners-businesses, civil society organizations, government officials, and others, the statement said. Our goal is to build and strengthen these relationships to create economic opportunity for more Pakistani citizens.

Strong bilateral relations

Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have been tense since last year when President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of taking billions in American aid but providing safe haven to terrorists, and suspended security assistance to it for not doing enough to curb Afghan Taliban militants operating from within its borders.

Pakistan would like to see better ties with Washington, which has threatened sanctions if Islamabad did not do more to rein in Afghan Taliban militants fighting U.S.

Disinformation

What is disinformation? Disinformation is false information that is spread deliberately to deceive people and influence their opinions. It can be done by making up fake news stories or paying people to say things that are untrue. Sometimes it's done by governments who want to make other countries and organizations look bad by spreading false information about them, sometimes it's done by political activists who oppose the government and want to make them look bad, and sometimes it's just done for fun or as a prank.

Will not let

We are committed to supporting democracy, human rights and economic reform in Pakistan, Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells said. While we recognize that progress has been made, much work remains.

In the way of

We will continue to work closely and cooperate fully with the Government of Pakistan to combat terrorism, Spokesperson Heather Nanuet said in a press release. We are committed to strengthening our partnership through security assistance and political consultations.

Nauert's comments came after Trump fired off an incendiary tweet last week accusing Islamabad of lies and deceit despite US assistance that has totaled about $33 billion since 2002.

Bilateral relations

Pakistan is a strong partner for peace in Afghanistan and on counterterrorism, said Heather Nauert, U.S. State Department spokesperson, citing regular high-level engagement between the two countries.

With Pakistan

Pakistan and the U.S. have had rocky relations for quite some time now, to say the least. The two countries have been involved in military actions against one another since 2001 when the US invaded Afghanistan after 9/11 and this has not helped their relationship at all.