USA not to cut civilian aid to Pakistan

USA not to cut civilian aid to Pakistan

Amidst deteriorating US-Pakistan relationships, the Obama administration clarified that civilian aid to Pakistan is not being cut and the matter of freezing defence aid to Pakistan is still in the Congress.

US State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland, during a press briefing in Washington on Tuesday, said: “We have not cut $700 million in aid to Pakistan.”

She added that the defence authorisation bill is currently moving in the Congress “which would require the Department of Defence to continue providing a strategy on how we will use certain military assistance and measure its progress, in particular on progress
that we are making with Pakistan on the IED issue.”

US lawmakers agreed to freeze $700 million in aid to Pakistan in a punitive measure that aims to stop the spread of improvised-explosive devices (IEDs) in Afghanistan, raw material for which, US lawmakers say, is smuggled from Pakistan.

“So if – obviously, if this legislation becomes law, we’ll work with the government of Pakistan on how we can fulfil the requirements,” added Nuland.

She refused to comment on the envoys conference held in Pakistan to redraw key pacts with the US, but said: “While this relationship is sometimes difficult, it’s very important for the United States and Pakistan to continue to work together, particularly
on the threats that face both of us.”

US lawmakers have expressed mounting anger at Pakistan, accusing its military and intelligence officials of supporting the Haqqani network blamed for attacks on US forces and targets in Afghanistan.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=6189

Posted by Ammar Ahmad on Dec 15 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry