Trump says may seek India’s help on ‘unstable’ Pak’s nukes
29 April 2016 6:29 AM IST
Republican presidential front runner Donald Trump on Thursday hinted at seeking help from India and others to address the “problem” of what he described as a “semi-unstable” nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Trump’s remarks came during a town-hall in Indianapolis in response to a question on how he would deal with countries like Pakistan which has sometimes “double dealt” with the US. “We’ve given them (Pakistan) money and they’ve double dealt us,” the interviewer said.
“Yes, but the problem with Pakistan, where they have nuclear weapons — which is a real problem,” Trump said.
“The single biggest problem we have is nuclear weapons, you know, countries with them. And it’s not only a country, you have nine countries right now with nuclear weapons. “But Pakistan is semi-unstable. We don’t want to see total instability. It’s not that much, relatively speaking. We have a little bit of a good relationship. I think I’d try and keep it,” said Trump.
“It is very much against my grain to say that, but a country — and that’s always the country, I think, you know, we give them money and we help them out, but if we don’t, I think that would go on the other side of the ledger and that could really be a disaster,” Trump said, without explaining what that disaster would be.
“At the same time, if you look at India and some of the others, maybe they’ll be helping us out, because we’re going to look at it. We have many, many countries that we give a lot of money to and we get absolutely nothing in return and that’s going to stop fast,” Trump said.
Trump’s remarks came on a day when lawmakers questioned the rationale of the Obama administration to give billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan without desired results.
Trump running most ‘reckless and dangerous’ campaign: Albright
Donald Trump is running the most “reckless and dangerous” presidential campaign in modern history, former US secretary of state Madeline Albright said as she joined others in slamming the controversial Republican front-runner for his “incoherent” foreign policy.
“I have gotten to listen to a lot of foreign policy speeches over the years but I have got to tell you, I have never seen such a combination of simplistic slogans, contradictions and misstatements in one speech,” Albright said on Wednesday.
“What Donald Trump’s goal today may have been was to convince us that he can be presidential, but instead of doing that he just underscored the fact that he is running the most reckless and dangerous presidential campaign in modern history,” she said in a conference.
Trump unveils his foreign policy, says ‘America first’
Emboldened by fresh primary wins, Republican front-runner Donald Trump has unveiled his “America first” foreign policy and vowed to halt the spread of radical Islam, eliminate the ISIS, prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and improve ties with Russia and China.
“I’d like to talk about how to develop a new foreign policy direction for our country, one that replaces randomness with purpose, ideology with strategy, and chaos with peace,” 69-year-old Trump said, asserting that it’s time to “shake the rust off” America s foreign policy.
“My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security above all else,” the Republican leader said. “It has to be first. Has to be.”
Trump did not mention India in his major foreign policy speech yesterday, but said that his administration would seek to improve ties with Russia and China.
The speech came a day after Trump declared himself as a “presumptive” Republican nominee when he won primaries in all the five states - Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
“To our friends and allies, I say America is going to be strong again. America is going to be reliable again. It’s going to be a great and reliable ally again. It’s going to be a friend again. We’re going to finally have a coherent foreign policy based upon American interests and the shared interests of our allies,” he said.
“We’re getting out of the nation-building business and instead focusing on creating stability in the world. Our moments of greatest strength came when politics ended at the water’s edge. We need a new rational American foreign policy,” he said.
Observing that the US needs a long-term plan to halt the spread and reach of radical Islam, Trump said containing the spread of radical Islam must be a major foreign policy goal of the United States and indeed the world.
“Events may require the use of military force, but it’s also a philosophical struggle, like our long struggle in the Cold War. In this, we’re going to be working very closely with our allies in the Muslim world, all of which are at risk from radical Islamic violence, attacks and everything else,” he said.
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