US to cancel $300-mn Pak aid over terror inaction

Pentagon’s move is part of a broader suspension of assistance announced in January

The US will cancel $300 million in military aid to Pakistan over its failure to take “decisive actions” to support President Donald Trump’s new South Asia policy and act against terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pentagon has announced, a fresh blow to the deteriorating ties between the two.

The US will cancel $300 million in military aid to Pakistan over its failure to take “decisive actions” to support the US President Donald Trump’s new South Asia policy and act against terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pentagon has announced, a fresh blow to the deteriorating ties between the two nations.

The announcement comes just days before the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit Pakistan to meet the country’s new prime minister Imran Khan. The US and others have long complained that Pakistan provides safe haven to militant networks, allowing them to carry out cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon’s move, which needs to be approved by the US Congress, is part of a broader suspension of aid announced in January. US President Donald Trump since assuming office has been tough on Pakistan over its inaction against terror groups, saying Washington has got “nothing but lies & deceit” in return for millions of dollars in aid over the years.

Trump in August last year unveiled his new South Asia policy and asked Pakistan to do more against such groups.

The US in January this year suspended more than $1.15 billion security assistance to Pakistan, accusing it of harbouring

terror groups like the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network within its borders and showing unwillingness to take “decisive actions” against them, a move that affected bilateral ties.

The Pentagon has now sought Congressional determination to reprogramme $300 million of its Coalition Support Fund (CSF) for Pakistan “due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy”, Pentagon Spokesman Kone Faulkner told PTI. He said the US military would aim to spend the money on other “urgent priorities” before the funds expire on September 30, 2018.

With the latest move, the Department of Defence (DoD) has reprogrammed $800 million CSF destined for Pakistan as the US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis did not give the necessary certification to Congress that the country has taken strong steps against terrorist groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT).

“This is not a new decision or a new announcement,” Faulkner told PTI in response to a question.

“We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network and LeT in the region,” Faulkner said, adding that the $300 million aid - which had earlier been suspended — should be used elsewhere. Pentagon will have a congressional response before September 30, to allow it to implement the reprogramming actions, he said.