Pentagon has cancelled $300 million in aid to Pakistan, a move showing significant deterioration in ties between the two. The aid was cancelled after the latter ‘failed to take decisive action’ against local terror groups, PTI reported.
“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.
The aid was reprogrammed after US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis refused to give the necessary certification to the Congress that Pakistan has taken strong steps against groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
“This is not a new decision or a new announcement,” Faulkner stated.
“In 2018, the DoD Appropriations Act, published on March 23, 2018, you can find the verbiage detailing $500M was rescinded by Congress upon the 2018 DoD Appropriations Act’s passage (page 161), which is all public,” he said.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,” he added.
Earlier in April, the U.S has showed concern over terrorist groups’s active network in the country. It asked Pakistan to do more against these externally oriented” groups. During the announcement of the Afghanistan policy, U.S President Donald Trump said that America needs to change its approach in dealing with Pakistan, “We cannot be silent about Pakistan’s safe haven for terror groups.”
“Pakistan often gives safe havens to agents of chaos, violence and terror,” he had said.
