Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Ridiculing their Vice-President JD Vance’s “love” for Pakistan, senior Republican US lawmakers have flagged the South Asian country’s long history of harbouring terrorists and hiding Osama bin Laden, the chief architect of the 9/11 attacks on American landmarks in 2001, the media reported on Tuesday.
Their strong reaction came against the backdrop of Vance’s “we love Pakistan” remark in Switzerland, where he, along with leaders from Pakistan and Qatar, were negotiating technical details of a peace deal with Iran last weekend.
Senator Tim Sheehy from Montana, in an interview to Fox News, also flagged the role of Pakistan in sheltering Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
“It should be clear to everybody by now who our friends really are. Qatar and Pakistan have long histories of harbouring terrorists, and right now they seem far more invested in propping up Iran’s decades-long terror campaign than achieving a meaningful peace,” Senator Rick Scott, Florida, said in a post on X on Monday.
“There is still room for a workable agreement that benefits everyone. HOWEVER, what everybody needs to get through their heads here is that there is ZERO chance Iran comes out of this able to build a nuclear weapon,” Scott said.
“Pakistan, let’s not forget, hid bin-Laden for a decade. They funded the Ayatollah through ISI insurances,” Sheehy said.
He said if Pakistan and Qatar were at the negotiating table, the US should also have the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia, the real allies of the US in the Middle East, join the talks.
The Montana senator also said that Qatar has been laundering money for terrorist organisations for decades.
“The Pakistanis through the ISI funded insurgencies against us and hid bin Laden. So, to assume they’re going to be objective middlemen here, I don’t think is accurate,” Sheehy said.
“I think we need to make sure that we stand with the UAE, and we stand with Israel unequivocally, because they will be our vanguard in the region no matter what happens,” Sheehy, a former US Navy SEAL, said.
In a lighter vein, Vance on Sunday said Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir was among two of his “favourite” persons.
“I will say that since Field Marshal Munir welcomed us with the Prime Minister in Islamabad, I have joked that I have two very, very important people in my life — an Indian and a Pakistani. The Indian is my wife, and the Pakistani is Field Marshal Munir,” Vance said.
He also said that in the last three months, he talked to Munir more than “anybody else.”