Pakistan remains a critical partner to America's South Asia strategy, the Pentagon said on Monday, a day after President Donald Trump said that Islamabad was not doing "a damn thing" for the US.

In an interview to a television news channel on Sunday, Trump had defended his administration's decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan for not doing enough to curb terrorism and criticised Islamabad for offering a hideout to Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad.

"The US and Pakistan have a strong mutual interest in the region. As you know, they are critical (and) vital to the South Asia strategy and including the facilitation of a peace process that would lead to a stable and peaceful Afghanistan," Col Rob Manning, Director of Defense Press Operations, told reporters during an off-camera news conference.

"They remain a critical partner in our South Asia strategy and there's been no change to our military-to-military relationship with Pakistan,? Manning said, responding to question about the series of tweets by President Trump and his interview to Fox News that Pakistan has done nothing for the United States.

"I do not have any announcement on any change to the military to military relationship we have with Pakistan," Manning said, when asked that his answers reflects that the Pentagon differs with the views of President Trump on Pakistan.&nbsp;

Pakistan remains a critical partner to America's South Asia strategy, the Pentagon said on Monday, a day after President Donald Trump said that Islamabad was not doing "a damn thing" for the US.

Pakistan remains a critical partner to America's South Asia strategy, the Pentagon said on Monday, a day after President Donald Trump said that Islamabad was not doing "a damn thing" for the US. In an interview to a television news channel on Sunday, Trump had defended his administration's decision to stop hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Pakistan for not doing enough to curb terrorism and criticised Islamabad for offering a hideout to Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the garrison city of Abbottabad. "The US and Pakistan have a strong mutual interest in the region. As you know, they are critical (and) vital to the South Asia strategy and including the facilitation of a peace process that would lead to a stable and peaceful Afghanistan," Col Rob Manning, Director of Defense Press Operations, told reporters during an off-camera news conference. "They remain a critical partner in our South Asia strategy and there's been no change to our military-to-military relationship with Pakistan,? Manning said, responding to question about the series of tweets by President Trump and his interview to Fox News that Pakistan has done nothing for the United States. "I do not have any announcement on any change to the military to military relationship we have with Pakistan," Manning said, when asked that his answers reflects that the Pentagon differs with the views of President Trump on Pakistan.

Pakistan remains a critical partner to US' South Asia strategy: Pentagon

India is a key player in President Donald Trump&#39;s South Asia Strategy, the Pentagon has said.

&quot;Our relationship with India is multifaceted. India is helping with respect to the South Asian Strategy. They&#39;ve provided a tremendous amount of developmental aid.

They&#39;ve also offered to help with aviation maintenance,&quot; Pentagon&#39;s Chief Spokesperson, Dana White, told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

She was responding to questions on India&#39;s role in fight against terrorism.

&quot;There&#39;s an opportunity. India&#39;s a perfect example of where the (defence) secretary wants to find and build relationships with partners, and so that&#39;s what we are doing. And with respect to the South Asia Strategy, they are a key player in ensuring its success,&quot; White said.

Dana White told reporters at a news conference yesterday

India is a key player in President Donald Trump's South Asia Strategy, the Pentagon has said. "Our relationship with India is multifaceted. India is helping with respect to the South Asian Strategy. They've provided a tremendous amount of developmental aid. They've also offered to help with aviation maintenance," Pentagon's Chief Spokesperson, Dana White, told reporters at a news conference yesterday. She was responding to questions on India's role in fight against terrorism. "There's an opportunity. India's a perfect example of where the (defence) secretary wants to find and build relationships with partners, and so that's what we are doing. And with respect to the South Asia Strategy, they are a key player in ensuring its success," White said.

India key player in US' South Asia Strategy: Pentagon

The United States is not contemplating military action inside Pakistan, the Pentagon has said, refuting such reports appearing in Pakistani newspapers.

Instead, the US seeks Pakistan&#39;s cooperation and assistance in various operations under its new South Asia strategy, Lt Gen Kenneth F McKenzie told reporters at a news conference yesterday.

&quot;We actually don&#39;t contemplate military operations inside Pakistan. On the other hand, we recognise, because the strategy is inherently regional and Pakistan is geographically located at a critical nexus of a lot of different things, Pakistan is a fundamental part of the strategy,&quot; said McKenzie.

&quot;Through a variety of measures, we look to gain Pakistani cooperation and assistance as we pursue operations in Afghanistan. But we&#39;re not planning to conduct military operations inside Pakistan,&quot; he told Pentagon reporters in response to a question.

Under the new South Asia strategy, Pakistan has an opportunity to be a partner in the fight against terrorism, Pentagon&#39;s Chief Spokesperson Dana White said.

&quot;It (Pakistan) has been a victim of terrorism, and it has supported terrorism. We are looking for Pakistan to actively join -- it can do the things we need them to do to confront terrorism,&quot; said White.

&quot;So it&#39;s an inflection point, it&#39;s an opportunity, and we hope Pakistan will take it,&quot; she said in response to a question.

The US has recently suspended about USD 2 billion in security aid to Pakistan for failing to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network terror groups and dismantle their safe havens

The freezing of all security assistance to Pakistan came days after US President Donald Trump, in a New Year&#39;s Day tweet, accused the country of giving nothing to the US but &quot;lies and deceit&quot; and providing &quot;safe haven&quot; to terrorists in return for USD 33 billion aid over the last 15 years.

White refuted impression that there is a connection between the recent attacks in Kabul and the US&#39; decision to suspend aid to Pakistan.

&quot;The Taliban is desperate. They&#39;re murderous and they attack innocent civilians. As the general said, these were flashy but it shows their disparity,&quot; she said.

&quot;For every attack that&#39;s carried out, many, many, many are stopped, many are prevented from occurring. So to think that you&#39;re going to have exquisite timing on when an attack occurs is probably a bridge too far for the Taliban to have,? White said.&nbsp;

Under the new South Asia strategy, Pakistan has an opportunity to be a partner in the fight against terrorism, Pentagon's Chief Spokesperson Dana White said.

The United States is not contemplating military action inside Pakistan, the Pentagon has said, refuting such reports appearing in Pakistani newspapers. Instead, the US seeks Pakistan's cooperation and assistance in various operations under its new South Asia strategy, Lt Gen Kenneth F McKenzie told reporters at a news conference yesterday. "We actually don't contemplate military operations inside Pakistan. On the other hand, we recognise, because the strategy is inherently regional and Pakistan is geographically located at a critical nexus of a lot of different things, Pakistan is a fundamental part of the strategy," said McKenzie. "Through a variety of measures, we look to gain Pakistani cooperation and assistance as we pursue operations in Afghanistan. But we're not planning to conduct military operations inside Pakistan," he told Pentagon reporters in response to a question. Under the new South Asia strategy, Pakistan has an opportunity to be a partner in the fight against terrorism, Pentagon's Chief Spokesperson Dana White said. "It (Pakistan) has been a victim of terrorism, and it has supported terrorism. We are looking for Pakistan to actively join -- it can do the things we need them to do to confront terrorism," said White. "So it's an inflection point, it's an opportunity, and we hope Pakistan will take it," she said in response to a question. The US has recently suspended about USD 2 billion in security aid to Pakistan for failing to clamp down on the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network terror groups and dismantle their safe havens The freezing of all security assistance to Pakistan came days after US President Donald Trump, in a New Year's Day tweet, accused the country of giving nothing to the US but "lies and deceit" and providing "safe haven" to terrorists in return for USD 33 billion aid over the last 15 years. White refuted impression that there is a connection between the recent attacks in Kabul and the US' decision to suspend aid to Pakistan. "The Taliban is desperate. They're murderous and they attack innocent civilians. As the general said, these were flashy but it shows their disparity," she said. "For every attack that's carried out, many, many, many are stopped, many are prevented from occurring. So to think that you're going to have exquisite timing on when an attack occurs is probably a bridge too far for the Taliban to have,? White said.

US not contemplating military action inside Pakistan: Pentagon

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis praised&nbsp;India&#39;s commitment towards the development of Afghanistan. According to him, the&nbsp;recently announced South Asia strategy by President Donald Trump is an opportunity for Pakistan to engage in &quot;counter-terrorism campaign&quot;.&nbsp;

As reported by PTI, Mattis said that the South Asia strategy is&nbsp;&quot;not exclusive of someone&quot;.

He added, &quot;It is inclusive for all responsible states that want to stop terrorism in its tracks and defend the innocent.&quot;&nbsp;

According to a Pentagon transcript, Mattis addressed the media&nbsp;at a joint news conference in Kabul and said, &quot;I agree 100 per cent with President Ghani that this South Asia strategy and this renewed commitment is an opportunity for Pakistan to engage in the counter-terror campaign.&quot; He added that the&nbsp;United States &quot;will watch&quot; Islamabad&#39;s choices.

Commenting on the issue,&nbsp;Afghan President Ashraf Ghani echoed Mattis, as he travelled to Kabul from New Delhi, without going to Islamabad.&nbsp;

Pakistan has so far resisted Trump&#39;s Afghan and South Asia policy. This is because for the first time, the United States seeks to hold&nbsp;Pakistan accountable for its support of terrorist groups and organisation.

Also, Trump&#39;s policy seeks greater developmental role for India in this war-torn country.

Speaking to a New York audience this week, Pak Foreign Minister Khawaja said,&nbsp;&quot;The reaction for the (Pak) government and the public at large was of utter disappointment, though not shocking. It was not unexpected but it was it was unpleasant.&quot;

He added,&nbsp;&quot;We don&#39;t see any military rule or any strategic role of India in Afghanistan.&quot;

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg agreed with both Mattis and Ghani saying that this is a regional approach, which includes both Pakistan and India. He affirms that both have to be included in a mutual approach. He urged all countries in the region to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.

Mattis said that India has been &quot;very, very generous&quot; in its development assistance to Afghanistan and is committed to doing even more to help the people of Afghanistan.&nbsp;

The US defense secretary added,&nbsp;&quot;Certainly, that cannot be seen as contrary to another nation&#39;s interest to help people who are working their way out of many, many difficult years since the Soviet invasion.&quot;

The US defense secretary emphasises that the policy is 'inclusive for all responsible states that want to stop terrorism in its tracks and defend the innocent'

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis praised India's commitment towards the development of Afghanistan. According to him, the recently announced South Asia strategy by President Donald Trump is an opportunity for Pakistan to engage in "counter-terrorism campaign". As reported by PTI, Mattis said that the South Asia strategy is "not exclusive of someone". He added, "It is inclusive for all responsible states that want to stop terrorism in its tracks and defend the innocent." According to a Pentagon transcript, Mattis addressed the media at a joint news conference in Kabul and said, "I agree 100 per cent with President Ghani that this South Asia strategy and this renewed commitment is an opportunity for Pakistan to engage in the counter-terror campaign." He added that the United States "will watch" Islamabad's choices. Commenting on the issue, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani echoed Mattis, as he travelled to Kabul from New Delhi, without going to Islamabad. Pakistan has so far resisted Trump's Afghan and South Asia policy. This is because for the first time, the United States seeks to hold Pakistan accountable for its support of terrorist groups and organisation. Also, Trump's policy seeks greater developmental role for India in this war-torn country. Speaking to a New York audience this week, Pak Foreign Minister Khawaja said, "The reaction for the (Pak) government and the public at large was of utter disappointment, though not shocking. It was not unexpected but it was it was unpleasant." He added, "We don't see any military rule or any strategic role of India in Afghanistan." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg agreed with both Mattis and Ghani saying that this is a regional approach, which includes both Pakistan and India. He affirms that both have to be included in a mutual approach. He urged all countries in the region to support an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process. Mattis said that India has been "very, very generous" in its development assistance to Afghanistan and is committed to doing even more to help the people of Afghanistan. The US defense secretary added, "Certainly, that cannot be seen as contrary to another nation's interest to help people who are working their way out of many, many difficult years since the Soviet invasion."