Pak PM faced security check in US: report
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had to undergo a routine security check at a US airport during a recent visit, an 'indignity' that has enraged the Pakistani media amid reports that the Trump administration is considering imposing visa bans and other sanctions on individuals in the Pakistani government.
Washington also announced sanctions on Monday on seven Pakistani companies over suspicion they have links to the nuclear trade, signaling a further downturn in ties.
Footage aired on Pakistani TV channels over the past two days shows Abbasi picking up his bag and coat and walking out from a security check at what they said was an American airport.
Abbasi was in the US last week on a private trip to visit his ailing sister but he also met vice-president Mike Pence in an unscheduled engagement at which he was bluntly told Pakistani has to do more to address concerns about its nurturing of terrorist groups.
The US smackdown came even as Foreign Policy magazine reported that the Trump administration is 'weighing unprecedented political penalties' on Islamabad for harbouring Afghan militants waging war on the US-backed government in Afghanistan.
"The options under consideration include revoking Pakistan's status as a major non-Nato ally, permanently cutting off the US military aid that was suspended two months ago, and even imposing visa bans or other sanctions on individuals in the Pakistani government deemed responsible for providing support to the militants," the journal said.
The magazine reported some officials and military officers favour a hard line with Pakistan, maintaining that years of aid and accommodation have produced little in return. But other voices in the administration worry about alienating a nuclear-armed country of 200 million people bordering China.
The appointment last week of a fervent hawk as national security advisor, John Bolton, and the nomination of another for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, it said 'could tilt the discussion in favor of tougher measures against Islamabad.'
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