US OFFICIAL FEARS INDIA MAY STEP UP STRIKES AGAINST PAK
WASHINGTON: India is considering punitive actions against Islamabad for supporting crossborder terrorism, a top American defence intelligence chief told US lawmakers on a day when the Trump government slashed its budgetary aid to Pakistan. “India has sought and continues to move to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive options to raise the cost to Islamabad for its alleged support to cross-border terrorism,” Lt Gen Vincent Stewart, director, Defense Intelligence Agency, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats.
India is considering punitive actions against Islamabad for supporting crossborder terrorism, a top American defence intelligence chief told US lawmakers on a day when the Trump government slashed its budgetary aid to Pakistan.
“India has sought and continues to move to isolate Pakistan diplomatically and is considering punitive options to raise the cost to Islamabad for its alleged support to cross-border terrorism,” Lt Gen Vincent Stewart, director, Defense Intelligence Agency, told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on worldwide threats.
His statement came a day after the army launched “punitive fire assaults” on Pakistani positions across the Line of Control, inflicting some damage. The Donald Trump government on Tuesday cut its support to Pakistan by a massive $400 million.
Stewart said India is modernising its military to better posture itself to defend New Delhi’s interests in the broader Indian Ocean region and reinforce its diplomatic and economic outreach across Asia.
Bilateral relations between India and Pakistan worsened following several terrorist attacks in India, he said. “Continued threat of high level terror attacks in India, violence in Kashmir and bilateral diplomatic recriminations will further strain India-Pakistan ties in 2017,” he said.
AID SLASHED
The Trump administration has slashed its foreign military financing (FMF) to Pakistan from $255 million to $100 million for the 2018 fiscal.
It is also keeping options open on whether this would be in the form of a grant or a loan, a US official added. Last year, the US assistance to Pakistan under the state department budget was $534 million, which included $225 million towards foreign military funding. In all, the state department has proposed a massive $190 million reduction in its financial aid to Pakistan as compared to the 2016 fiscal.
COSYING UP TO CHINA
Meanwhile, a UN report has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor may create further tension between India and Pakistan, and ignite political instability in South Asia.