"We are engaged with the US Administration on the issue of security cooperation and await further details. Impact of US' decision on the pursuit of common objectives is also likely to emerge more clearly in due course of time," the press release read.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry noted that Islamabad was fighting against terrorism mostly with the use of its own funds "which has cost over $120 billion in 15 years," stressing that the government was determined to take all possible steps "to secure the lives of our citizens and broader stability in the region."
"We believe that Pakistan-US cooperation in fighting terrorism has directly served US national security interests as well as the larger interests of the international community. It has helped decimate Al-Qaeda [a terrorist group, banned in Russia] and fight other groups who took advantage of ungoverned spaces, a long porous border and posed a common threat to peace," the press release read.
The ministry noted that Islamabad had managed to liberate these territories from terrorists with a series of security operations, which resulted in a "significant improvement in security in Pakistan."
The statement comes in wake of the United States' decision to suspend the delivery of military equipment and security aid to Pakistan, announced by State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on January 4. As Nauert has explained, such a measure was a response to the local authorities’ insufficient measures in the anti-terror fight.
READ MORE: US Suspends Security Assistance to Pakistan — State Department
The move echoes previous US President Donald Trump's threats to cut off $255 million in aid to Pakistan made in August 2017, citing the nation’s continued tolerance of terrorist groups, which continue to launch attacks from the nation’s rugged border region on US and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan and on civilians throughout Pakistan.
