Davos - Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that Pakistan and the United States have had a very strong relationship, but in the last 15 years, it has kind of gone downhill.

Abbasi told Washington Post during an exclusive interview that it has to come through an official document or an official meeting to constitute official policy, in our opinion. He said that because if you say that Pakistan was given money, then let us have accounting. ... Since September 11th, when President [George W] Bush called President [Pervez] Musharraf and he immediately promised full and unconditional support to the US. “We have been supporting the US effort in Afghanistan, he added.”

He said that even today, Pakistan is fighting the largest war on terror in the world. He said that “we have 200,000 troops fighting a war against terror today on the western border.”

“We have lost 6,500 troops. We have defeated the same enemy the rest of the world failed to defeat in Afghanistan, on the same terrain, with our own resources, he added.” To a question, he said that there is no economic aid, adding that there is a coalition support fund, which basically reimburses Pakistan for the expenses that are made in support of US forces in Afghanistan. He said that security assistance was minimal adding that there were some military sales — we bought some F-16 fighters, which we did not receive. All that has done is degrade our ability to fight the terrorists, he added.

Abbasi said that on the ground, the reality is that in the last year, 29 suicide bombers crossed over from Afghanistan into Pakistan and attacked our installations. The deputy chair of the Senate — his convoy was attacked, and 22 people were killed.

To a question he said “We are committed to fighting the war against terror and that there are no two ways about it.”

“We have assisted the US forces and will continue to assist them,” he added.

He said that there have been over 1.1 million overflights within our airspace — US aircraft going to Afghanistan and fighting the war there.

He added there have been millions of tons of equipment and cargo going there and there has not been a single instance where if actual intelligence has been provided [to us], it has not been acted upon.

To a question he said that “our relationship with China is 70 years old and we have military and economic cooperation and now the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is the most visible part of the initiative that China has taken. It is a growing relationship,” he added.