WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has said that India and Pakistan should do more to fight extremist groups in Asia, particularly in Afghanistan.
“At a certain point, Russia, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Turkey… they are going to have to fight their battles too,” Trump told reporters in one of his typical pow-wows with the press as he headed out of the White House. “Look, India’s right there (next to Afghanistan), they are not fighting it, we’re fighting it. Pakistan is next door. They’re fighting it, very little [...] it’s not fair. The United States is 7,000 miles away,” he told reporters.
Asked by journalists if he is concerned about the re-emergence of the militant Islamic State group in Iraq, Trump said forces under his lead had wiped out the extremist group. “We wiped out the caliphate 100 percent. I did it in record time. But at a certain point, all of these other countries, where ISIS is around ... are going to have to fight them. Because do we want to stay there another 19 years? I don’t think so.”
Trump’s comments came a day after he indicated that the US forces will not completely withdraw from war-torn Afghanistan and America will have “somebody there” to make sure that Taliban do not regain control.