US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (Photo: AFP)   

Islamabad (People’s Daily) – Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Hussain Haroon said Wednesday, “It is totally wrong to link any IMF package with CPEC,” dismissing an “inappropriate” statement of by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo “warned” the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and Pakistan in an interview on Monday, “There’s no rationale for IMF tax dollars — and associated with that, American dollars that are part of the IMF funding — to bail out Chinese bondholders or China itself.”

At a media briefing in Islamabad, Pakistan’s top diplomat regarded Pompeo’s statement as “completely inappropriate,” and said he was “a little bewildered as to why this needed to be said.”

“There is absolutely no reason for anyone to intervene in the relationship [between Pakistan and China],” Haroon stressed.

“CPEC is linked with the progress and prosperity of Pakistan,” he said, adding that the Pakistani government is committed to complete all the CPEC projects.

As to whether the country will seek an IMF package, Haroon said it will be up to the newly elected government to decide the matter.