The Trump administration has increased drone strikes after Pakistan stopped sharing key intelligence defense sources revealed. Pakistan was no longer handing over information collected on the ground in the border region with Afghanistan after reacting angrily to President Trump's first tweet of 2018, in which he accused the country of taking billions of dollars in US aid while continuing to harbor militants, sources maintained.
Since the US-led invasion in 2001, the US has conducted hundreds of drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan's tribal areas against al Qaeda, the Haqqani Network and Pakistan Taliban. Despite its public protestations, Islamabad is believed to have continued to cooperate behind the scenes with the CIA's drone campaign, although it reportedly insists that it should be limited to the country's tribal northwest. A member of Senate Standing Committee on Defense, Saleem Mandviwalla told Business Recorder that Pakistan Peoples Party government always opposed the unilateral drone strikes in Pakistan.
Talking about recent drone strikes, he said that Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa briefing the Senate Committee of the Whole on matters pertaining to national security and acknowledged that the government had been sharing intelligence information before any drone strike. However, he (Army Chief) also said that unilateral actions like drone strikes, etc, were counterproductive and against the spirit of ongoing cooperation and intelligence sharing being diligently undertaken by Pakistan.
In December 2017, Chief of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air Chief Marshal Sohail Aman stated that the PAF could shoot down any drone which violates the country's airspace. Aamir Rana, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think-tank, said it seemed that both countries stopped sharing intelligence information after President Donald Trump's tweet on January 1, 2018 which stated: "The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!"
PML-N leader, Lt Gen Abdul Qayyum (retd), member defense committee, said that Pakistan is a sovereign country which according to its state policy does not allow any country to strike inside Pakistan. Pakistan clearly condemns as well as protests on appropriate forums to stop drone attacks and especially when Pakistan has categorically rejected the US allegations of safe havens. Intelligence sharing should be ensured, he added.
However, he said that Pakistan cannot afford any direct conflict with the US and hence adopts the policy of diplomacy, but the US does not want peace and is instead trying to provoke Pakistan to react. With respect to 'do more' policy, he said Pakistan needs to repatriate Afghan refugees and strengthen the border with effective border management.
According to Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal, Pakistan continued to emphasize upon the US the importance of sharing actionable intelligence so that appropriate action is taken against terrorists by Pakistani forces within its territory. "Such unilateral actions, are detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism," he added. "This is an extremely bold move on the part of the United States if it was willing to deal with the consequences which can include Pakistan cutting off its transit routes for NATO supplies into Afghanistan," stated a lawmaker from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.