US not ready to resume military aid to Pakistan, Pompeo says

Pakistan has not done enough against militant groups for Washington to resume sending military aid, the US Secretary of State says.

Mike Pompeo arrived in Islamabad for talks with Prime Minister Imran Khan. The relationship between the allies has been soured further by US claims that Pakistan is failing to combat insurgents in Afghanistan.

Mr Pompeo said he wanted to renew a relationship that has long been marred by distrust and recrimination.

He said he would use his five-hour stop en route to Delhi to explain US expectations of what Pakistan must do to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Pakistani officials said they held little hope that Mr Pompeo’s visit would herald a warming of relations.

The US said at the weekend it was formally cancelling $300 million (Dh11 billion) in security assistance it had suspended earlier in the year.

“We certainly haven’t seen the progress that we would have hoped to have seen,” Mr Pompeo said. “Certainly not progress that would be sufficient for us to have advocated for turning back on that financial support.”

He said the decision to cancel the aid payment, which was to reimburse Pakistan’s military for its security operations along the border with Afghanistan, “wasn’t news to the Pakistanis”.

“The rationale for them not getting the money is very clear, it’s that we haven’t seen the progress that we need to see from them and the very reason for this trip is to try to articulate what our expectation is,” Mr Pompeo said.

The US has long accused Pakistan of providing support and haven to Taliban militants fighting the western-backed government of Ashraf Ghani in Kabul.

Pakistan denies supporting the militants and said the US failed to recognise its sacrifices in fighting militancy. Tens of thousands have died in extremist attacks since 2001 and the military has suffered 6,500 casualties in operations to drive militants from the border regions.

“There is a new leader there. I wanted to get out there at the beginning of his time in an effort to reset the relationship between the two countries,” said Mr Pompeo, who was accompanied by Gen Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Mr Khan has often criticised US policy in Afghanistan and once claimed the Taliban were justified in fighting a US occupation.

But he has been more measured since taking office and said only that he wanted a more equal partnership with Washington.

After the talks, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Quereshi said his meeting with Mr Pompeo had been excellent but he offered no details.