{"id":28410,"date":"2016-12-02T23:26:43","date_gmt":"2016-12-02T23:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=28410"},"modified":"2016-12-03T00:29:38","modified_gmt":"2016-12-03T00:29:38","slug":"trump-team-takes-issue-with-pakistani-version-of-phone-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.bornomalanews.com\/?p=28410","title":{"rendered":"Trump team takes issue with Pakistani version of phone talk"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"trump79\"International desk: The Trump transition team has issued its own version of the Sharif-Trump telephone call, saying that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US president-elect Donald Trump did have a \u2018productive conversation\u2019 on Wednesday, but it lacked the \u201cflowery language\u201d included in the Pakistani version of this talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident-elect Trump and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif spoke \u2026 had a productive conversation about how the United States and Pakistan will have a strong working relationship in the future,\u201d said the Trump transition team in a rare readout of his conversation with a foreign leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident-elect Trump also noted that he is looking forward to a lasting and strong personal relationship with Prime Minister Sharif,\u201d the statement added.<\/p>\n

An unidentified adviser to the Trump team said the Pakistani readout of the talk had \u201ccommitted the president-elect to more than what he meant\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other members of the Trump team, quoted in media, pointed out that the Pakistanis overplayed Mr Trump\u2019s offer to play \u201ca role\u201d in resolving Pakistan\u2019s disputes with India.<\/p>\n

The most critical comment on the Pakistani readout, however, came from a former White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer: \u201cIt\u2019s entirely inappropriate for the Pakistani government to release what an American president-elect says in the course of a phone call.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Fleischer, who was a member of former Republican president George Bush\u2019s White House team and is close to the Trump transition team as well, noted that no government releases such readouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would never release what a foreign leader said to (ex-president) George W. Bush. We would talk about what George W. Bush said. But to release what somebody else says, I am not the spokesperson for Pakistan or any other nation,\u201d he told CNN.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, for them to do it is an entire breach of diplomatic protocol and tradition. And if they had done that to me, I would be on the phone right now with their press secretary, chewing him out. The ambassador would be on the phone with their ambassador, chewing the ambassador out. And up and down the chain,\u201d Mr Fleischer added.<\/p>\n

Media criticial<\/p>\n

The US media also criticised the Pakistani decision to release the readout, agreeing with Mr Fleischer that it was inappropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cReadouts of phone calls between world leaders are usually written safely in order to protect leaders from incidental backlash \u2014 like the one the Trump team put out,\u201d CNN noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re dry and diplomatic statements summing up conversations using carefully chosen buzzwords.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Washington Post called the Pakistani release \u201ca surprisingly candid read\u201d and noted that it \u201cfocuses almost entirely on Trump\u2019s contribution to the conversation, and reproduces them in a voice that is unmistakably his (Mr Trump\u2019s)\u201d.<\/p>\n

The New York Times called it \u201ca bizarre conversation\u201d, noting that \u201cwhile not exactly confirming the content, the Trump transition team did acknowledge the call\u201d.<\/p>\n

In a commentary on the conversation, the Forbes magazine described Mr Trump\u2019s comments as \u201ccozy, expansive, even flattering,\u201d and warned that \u201chis bluster is more likely to be taken as the initial signal of his administration\u2019s position\u201d on the Pakistan-India dispute.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt matters that he uses words like \u2018very good reputation\u2019, \u2018amazing work\u2019, \u2018visible in every way\u2019, \u2018the most intelligent\u2019, \u2018fantastic country\u2019, \u2018exceptional people\u2019,\u201d the magazine noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main messages it sends is that he shows no awareness of the issues between the United States, Pakistan and India,\u201d Forbes added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International desk: The Trump transition team has issued its own version of the Sharif-Trump telephone call, saying that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and US president-elect Donald Trump did have a \u2018productive conversation\u2019 on Wednesday, but it lacked the \u201cflowery language\u201d included in the Pakistani version of this talk. \u201cPresident-elect Trump and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":28411,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,14],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n