US Congress passes bill to slash Pakistan defence aid

THE U.S. APPROACH TO PAYMENT OF SECURITY AID TO PAKISTAN HAS CHANGED, EXPERTS SAY, PERHAPS DUE TO PAKISTAN’S INABILITY TO DELIVER ON COUNTERTERRORISM.

WASHINGTON: The US military defence spending bill that has cleared the Senate and Congress slashes security-related aid Pakistan could receive in 2019 to $150 million, reflecting growing American unwillingness to fund a one-time ally that has refused to take decisive action against terrorists.

The reduced money comes with reduced expectations on counter-terrorism. There were no stated requirements in the bill passed on Wednesday for Pakistan to act against terror groups operating from its soil, such as the Haqqani Network, a Taliban faction active in Afghanistan, to claim the money.

The defence bill, called the National Defense Authorization Act 2019, is headed for signature by President Donald Trump, who has pushed for cutting aid to Pakistan, saying it has given only “deceit and lies” in return for aid. His administration suspended nearly $2 billion in security aid in January.

Trump is expected to sign into law the bill, which allocates $717 billion as the budget for the US military for 2019, and it could go into effect in the early days of the new government of cricketerturned-politician Imran Khan in Islamabad.

Most of the security aid used to go to Pakistan as reimbursements under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF), which the US used to pay coalition partners for expenses incurred as part of the Us-led international force in Afghanistan. Pakistan had been a major recipient.

Pakistan will be entitled to receive $150 million, not from the CSF but from a common kitty of $350 million set aside for reimbursements to other coalition partners for border security operations, against certification by the defence secretary. They include Jordan, Lebanon and Egypt.

“The legislation reduces the total amount of funds provided for reimbursement to Pakistan to $150 million,” said Anish Goel, a former member of the Senate armed services committee who was deeply engaged with the writing of the South Asia section of the defence bill till 2017.