US set to scrap aid to Pak for lack of ‘ decisive action’

■ Defence dept has sought to cut aid by $ 300m ◗ The announcement comes days before US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad to meet new PM Imran Khan

Washington, Sept. 2: The US military plans to cancel $ 300 million in aid to Pakistan due to Islamabad’s lack of “decisive actions” in support of American strategy in the region, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

The US has been pushing Pakistan to crack down on militant safe havens in the country, and announced a freeze on aid at the beginning of the year that an official said could be worth almost $ 2 billion.

The defence department has sought to cut aid by $ 300 million “due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy”, Lieutenant Colonel Kone Faulkner said in an email to AFP.

“We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups,” Mr Faulkner said, adding that the latest aid cut request was pending Congressional approval.

The announcement comes days before US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is scheduled to visit Islamabad to meet new Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Pakistan has fought fierce campaigns against homegrown militant groups, and says it has lost thousands of lives and spent billions of dollars in its long war on extremism. But US officials accuse Islamabad of ignoring or even collaborating with groups, which attack Afghanistan from safe havens along the border between the two countries.

The White House believes that Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence agency and other military bodies have long helped fund and arm the Taliban for ideological reasons, but also to counter rising Indian influence in Afghanistan.

It also believes that a Pakistani crackdown could be pivotal in deciding the outcome of the long- running war in Afghanistan.

The Pentagon has sought Congressional determination to reprogramme $ 300 million of its Coalition Support Fund for Pakistan because of the latter’s “lack of ” decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy.

“Due to a lack of Pakistani decisive actions in support of the South Asia Strategy, the remaining $ 300 million ( actually $ 323.6 million to include non- Pakistan funds) was reprogrammed by DoD in the June/ July 2018 time frame for other urgent priorities before the funds expire on September 30, 2018,” Pentagon spokesman Koné Faulkner told PTI.

With this, the Department of Defence ( DoD) has reprogrammed $ 800 million CSF destined for Pakistan.

This is because US defence secretary Jim Mattis has refused to give the necessary certification to the Congress that Pakistan has taken strong steps against terrorist groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar- e- Taiba. “This is not a new decision or a new announcement,” Faulkner told PTI in response to a question.

“In 2018, the DoD Appropriations Act, published on March 23, 2018, you can find the verbiage detailing $ 500 million was rescinded by Congress upon the 2018 DoD Appropriations Act’s passage ( page 161), which is all public,” he said. “We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network and LET in the region,” Faulkner said.