Pakistan hosts dozen terrorist organisations, don’t deserve any aid from US: Nikki Haley

PTI, Mar 2, 2023, 11:17 AM IST

Indian-American Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley has said that Pakistan is home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations and it should not receive any aid from the US, ramping up her attack on America’s adversaries.

The 51-year-old two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations formally launched her 2024 presidential bid last month.

“Pakistan is home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations. #CutEveryCent,” Haley tweeted Wednesday.

Over the past few days, Haley has been speaking on US foreign policy and asserting that the US should not give any financial assistance to countries that are friends and allies of China and Russia.

On Sunday, Haley in an op-ed in the New York Post wrote that if voted to power, she will cut foreign aid to countries like China and Pakistan which hate America. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, she repeated her pledge to cut US foreign aid to countries that are friends and followers of Russia and China, the two adversaries of the US.

Haley, who announced her candidacy on February 14 is all set to appear at Conservative Political Action Conference as a star speaker along with her former boss and former president Donald Trump.

As per the schedule, she will speak on Friday morning and another presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

According to Haley, the Biden administration resumes military aid to Pakistan, though it’s home to at least a dozen terrorist organisations and its government is deeply in hock to China.

She said that as the US ambassador to the UN, she strongly supported then-president Donald Trump’s decision to cut nearly USD 2 billion of military aid to Pakistan because that country supported terrorists who kill American troops.

“It was a major victory for our troops, our taxpayers and our vital interests, but it didn’t go nearly far enough. We’ve still given them way too much in other aid. As president, I will block every penny,” she added.

Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to immigrant Punjabi Sikh parents, Haley is the third Indian-American to run for the US presidency in three consecutive election cycles. Bobby Jindal ran in 2016 and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020.

Days after Haley announced her White House bid, Indian-American tech entrepreneur Ramaswamy, another Republican, also launched his 2024 presidential bid. Before entering the presidential ballot, Haley has to win the Republican Party’s presidential primary which will start in January next year.

The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.