$336mn aid to Pak by US on condition

Washington, Feb. 13: US President Donald Trump has proposed $256 million in civilian and $80 million in military aid to Pakistan, down about $10 million, in the annual budget, but linked the defence assistance to Islamabad’s action against terror safe havens on its soil.

The proposed aid is the part of a $4 trillion annual budget for the fiscal 2019 beginning October 1.

The proposal of aid to Pakistan comes weeks after Trump administration suspended nearly $2 billion in security assistance to Islamabad due to its inability to take action against terrorist groups operating from its soil.

The White House has said it would consider lifting the freeze if it sees action by Pakistan against terrorist groups.

The budgetary proposal says that the military aid depends on Pakistan taking action against terrorist safe havens.

“The budget requests $256 million for Pakistan in economic and other assistance to help increase stability, promote economic growth and create opportunities for US businesses,” said the annual budgetary proposals sent by the White House to the Congress.

The Budget requests $80 million in foreign military financing assistance to enhance Pakistan’s counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency capabilities, contingent on Pakistan taking appropriate action to expand cooperation in areas where US-Pakistan interests converge and to address areas of divergence, in line with the administration’s South Asia strategy, the White House said.

“Pakistan’s assistance in total is down about $10 million..,” Hari Sastry, director of the office of US foreign assistance resources at the state department, said at a state department news conference after the release of the proposals. — PTI