PAK MUST TAKE SPECIFIC ACTION ON TERROR IF IT WANTS AID: US

WASHINGTON: The White House has said that Pakistan will have to take “specific actions” to combat terrorism in return for financial aid from the United States.

The US, in the past week, said it was withholding payment of $255 million in military assistance to Pakistan for the lack of decisive action against terror groups. President Donald Trump followed that up with a threat to stop all aid, saying the US has paid Pakistan $33 billion over the past 15 years in return for mere “lies & deceit”. “No more!” he added.

“We know that Pakistan can do more to fight terrorism, and we want them to step up and do that,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday. “In terms of specific actions, you’ll see some more details come out in the next 24 to 48 hours.”

The US’s statements indicate heightened pressure on Pakistan and a gradual alignment with India’s position that its neighbour is a terror haven.

State department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at her daily briefing on Tuesday that Pakistan needs “to earn, essentially, the money we have provided in the past in foreign military assistance, they need to show that they are sincere in their efforts to crack down on terrorists”.

Later in the day, US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley reiterated her country’s position. “The President is willing to go to great lengths to stop all funding from Pakistan as they continue to harbour and support terrorism,” she said.

It could not be ascertained if the actions demanded by the US would be different from the “very specific requests” given to Pakistan by secretary of state Rex Tillerson in October, or secretary of defense James Mattis in December.

In the absence of more information about the “specific actions”, experts are turning to a paper written in 2017 that called upon Trump to get tough with Pakistan. It was co-authored by former Pakistani ambassador to US Husain Haqqani and then think-tank member Lisa Curtis, who now heads the South Asia desk in the President’s National Security Council.

They had recommended a timeline-based sequence: Pakistan must imprison known terrorist leaders; shut down terrortraining camps and disrupt terror financing; stem infiltration of militants across the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir; end support to the Taliban and prevent its leaders from living and meeting in Pakistan; and curtail the export of arms, explosives and ammunition to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Pakistan has received $33.92 billion in aid from the United States since 2002, the year after the US invaded neighbouring Afghanistan to oust the Taliban regime for refusing to give up Osama bin Laden – who masterminded the September 11 terrorist attacks – and other al Qaeda leaders. These payments are a combination of economic and security-related assistance, including disbursements under the Coalition Support Fund that the US pays to member-countries of the international coalition force in Afghanistan. Pakistan accounted for the largest chunk of the amount — $14.57 billion — since 2002.