US aid to Pakistan for 2020 could be nil

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration has cut by half its budgetary request for a fund that the US uses to compensate coalition partners for military and logistical support, which could mean that Pakistan, a major beneficiary of the allocation, will get nothing from it in 2020.

The fiscal year 2020 budget request for Coalition Support Fund (CSF) of $450 million reflects a $450 mn (50%) decrease from the FY 2019 enacted level of $900 mn, the defence department said in a summary of its budgetary requests released on Tuesday. The reason for the reduction, it added, was “the continuing suspension of US security assistance to Pakistan based on the President’s January 4, 2018, guidance”.

A US expert on South Asian affairs, who has closely tracked American assistance to Pakistan, said that though the 2020 numbers and the context were not very clear yet, “one could read that DOD sentence as implying that the Pakistanis will get zero in FY20, with the $450m channelled elsewhere”.

The paltry request signalled that “one, security aid to Pakistan is suspended; and, two, the USG (US government) has not ended security aid to Pakistan and wants at l east s ome t o remain available now and going forward,” the expert added.

Of the $900 mn requested for 2019, $700 mn was meant for Pakistan. Congress granted only $350 mn in the National Defense Authorization Act 2019, which was also to be shared with other countries, and was meant for border security. That authorisation runs out in December.

Pakistan has been a major beneficiary of the CSF, receiving an estimated $14.5 billion since 2002, for operational support provided to US forces in Afghanistan and counter-terrorism operations.