ISLAMABAD: Admitting that it had played a role in helping the United States locate and kill bin Laden in 2011, the Foreign Office on Tuesday said that it was Pakistan’s intelligence cooperation that provided the initial evidence to trace the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.

Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua summoned the US Chargé d’Affaires Paul Jones to the Foreign Office on Tuesday and registered a strong protest on “unwarranted and unsubstantiated” allegations made against Pakistan by President Trump, which could seriously undermine vital cooperation between the two countries.

“Conveying her government’s disappointment on the recent tweets and comments by the US president, the US CdA was told that such baseless rhetoric about Pakistan was totally unacceptable,” the office of the foreign secretary said in a statement.

On Monday, President Trump told the Fox News the reasons for ending over a billion dollar annual aid for Pakistan was because the country didn’t do “a damn thing for us”.He also mentioned the stay of Osama bin Laden (OBL) in Pakistan before he was killed by the US forces.

In reply, the foreign secretary said: “We reject the insinuations about OBL, and want to remind the US that it was Pakistan’s intelligence cooperation that provided the initial evidence to trace the whereabouts of OBL.”

She added that no other country had paid a heavier price than Pakistan in the fight against terrorism.

“The US leadership had acknowledged on multiple occasions that Pakistan’s cooperation had helped in decimating the core al-Qaeda leadership and eradicating the threat of terrorism from the region. The US must not forget that scores of top AQ leaders were killed or captured by active Pakistani cooperation,” Ambassador Paul Jones was told.

Pakistan’s continued support to the efforts of international community in Afghanistan through ground, air and sea lines of communication was unquestionably critical to the success of the mission in Afghanistan.

“In the wake of recent US pronouncements to seek political settlement in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the US were working in close coordination with other regional stakeholders in order to end the prolonged conflict. At this critical juncture, baseless allegations about a closed chapter of history could seriously undermine this vital cooperation,” the secretary added.

Meanwhile, senior officials of the United States approached Islamabad to defuse the tensions, well-informed sources told a private TV channel.While praising Pakistan’s unrivaled sacrifices in the anti-terror campaign, the officials informed their Pakistani counterparts that Washington would require Islamabad’s additional assistance in the future too.

The US officials — in their written reply — promised “to inform President Trump about sacrifices rendered by Pakistan”.The officials also stated that the US would continue to engage with Islamabad on diplomatic channels.

Earlier, the Pentagon on Monday said that Pakistan remains a critical partner to the United States’ South Asia strategy.US Director of Defence Press Operations Colonel Robert Manning, speaking to reporters during an off-camera news conference, asserted that Pakistan “remains a critical partner” to America’s South Asia strategy.

“The US and Pakistan have strong mutual interests 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,” Colonel Manning said.

Responding to a question about the recent series of tweets by President Trump, he said, “They [Pakistan] remain a critical partner in our South Asia strategy and there’s been no change to our military-to-military relationship with Pakistan.”

When told his answers differ with the views of the US president, Colonel Manning added, “I do not have any announcement on any change to the military-to-military relationship we have with Pakistan.”