'Trump's harsh words for Pak reflects US govt's frustration'

President Donald Trump's harsh words for Pakistan while announcing his Afghanistan and South Asia strategy reflects the growing frustration within the US government over Islamabad's continued support for cross-border terrorism, a former American diplomat said.

Trump, in his first prime-time televised address to the nation as commander-in-chief, warned Pakistan of consequences for providing safe havens to terrorists and sought an enhanced role for India to bring peace in the war-torn country.

He ruled out a hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan to end America's longest war.

"President Trump tonight presented the nation with his strategy for Afghanistan a strategy that largely continued the approach of the previous administration, with a few key distinctions," former Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia in the Obama administration Nisha Desai Biswal.

"First let me say the most dramatic shifts were not in US policy towards Afghanistan but in the attitude of the president himself going from the withdrawal he had advocated during the campaign to essentially continuing, and even augmenting the troop levels for the foreseeable future," she told

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