Pakistan aid cut after ‘lack of decisive action’

Islamabad of ignoring or even collaborating with groups, which attack Afghanistan from safe havens along the border between the two countries.

The White House believes that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency and other military bodies have long helped fund and arm the Taliban for ideological reasons, but also to counter rising Indian influence in Afghanistan.

It also believes that a Pakistani crackdown could be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the long-running war in Afghanistan.

US f r ust rat ion has boi led over before: President Donald Trump’s predecessor Barack Oba ma aut hor i s e d d rone s t r i ke s on Pa k i s t a n i s a f e havens and sent US commandos to k i l l ji hadist k i ng pi n Osa ma bi n L aden i n h i s Abbottabad hideout.

Loss of US influence

But Trump’s aggressive language has especially angered Pakistani officials.

“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” Trump wrote on Twitter at the beginning of the year.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”

Pakistani leaders disputed the $33 billion figure, insisting that around half of the money relates to reimbursements, and the prime minister’s office accused Trump of ignoring the great sacrifices the country has made to fight extremism.

In March, a senior US official said that Pakistan has “done the bare minimum to appear responsive to our requests,” and concerns over a lack of action by Islamabad against militant groups still persist.

The announcement came weeks after Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Khan took office amid concerns he would remain tolerant of terror groups including the Taliban and the notorious Haqqani network.

Khan has repeatedly blamed Pakistan’s participation in the US-led anti-terror campaign for the surge in terrorism on home soil over the last decade and has vowed to rebalance Islamabad’s relationship with Washington.

He has also shown a willingness to hold talks with militant groups and sought support from religious hardliners in the run-up to elections last July – moves that prompted critics to christen him “Taliban Khan”.

Some analysts warn there may be no real way to pressure Islamabad and say a suspen- sion in aid could see the US lose crucial influence over Pakistan which will instead look to other countries for support, particularly its longtime ally China.

Despite the provocations, the US does not want to completely rupture its relationship with Pakistan, where anti-American sentiment already runs high.

Washington’s footprint in Afghanistan is much smaller than it was at the height of the war, but it needs access to Pakistan’s supply lines and airspace.

Pakistan is still believed to have the strongest influence over the Taliban, making its cooperation necessary for peace talks.