US freezes $1.3-bn security aid to Pakistan
Watch: US cuts off military aid to Pakistan
Synopsis
The freezing of all security assistance to Pakistan comes days after Trump in a new year tweet accused Pakistan of giving nothing to the US but lies and deceit.
By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury, ET Bureau
Last Updated:
NEW DELHI: The Trump administration has announced that it will freeze all security assistance to Pakistan until the country cracks down on militant groups allegedly operating out of its territory.
The decision, which could reportedly impact about $1.3 billion in annual aid to Islamabad, comes three days after US President Donald Trump tweeted that Pakistan has “given us nothing but lies & deceit”, and accused it of providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan”.
The move is a shot in the arm for India, which has for long been urging the US administration to limit its security aid to Islamabad as it diverts such assets against New Delhi. Nauert said the freeze will be enforced “until the Pakistani government takes decisive action against groups, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network”.
She said Pakistan’s failure to take action against Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed was not a factor in the action. “To my knowledge, that has nothing to do with that.”
Nauert did not give the size of the assistance that was being suspended, but said it is in addition to the $255 million in foreign military assistance that the Trump administration in August said it was withholding. She said the freeze does not apply to civilian assistance programmes.
In July 2011, the US had suspended transfer of $800 million in military aid to Pakistan, two months after an American operation against al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
On Thursday, the New York Times carried an article saying, “The United States is urging the Pakistani government to cut off contact with militants and reassign intelligence agents with links to extremists, among other measures.
United States officials had also demanded access to a member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, who was captured by Pakistani forces during the rescue of a Canadian-American family in October, and were angered when Pakistan rejected the request.
“White House officials said they would consider further steps, including removing Pakistan from a list of major non-NATO allies of the United States — a move that would carry enormous symbolic significance for the relationship.”
On the types of military equipment covered by the freeze, Nauert said, “I’m not going to be able to get into the specifics of that. A lot of that is under DoD (department of defence), so I just won’t have the details about that.”
She said some exceptions could be made to the suspensions if it was determined that portions of the frozen aid were “critical to national security interests” or “required by law”.
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“We will not be delivering military equipment or transfer securityrelated funds to Pakistan,” US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said on Thursday (US time).The decision, which could reportedly impact about $1.3 billion in annual aid to Islamabad, comes three days after US President Donald Trump tweeted that Pakistan has “given us nothing but lies & deceit”, and accused it of providing “safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan”.
The move is a shot in the arm for India, which has for long been urging the US administration to limit its security aid to Islamabad as it diverts such assets against New Delhi. Nauert said the freeze will be enforced “until the Pakistani government takes decisive action against groups, including the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network”.
She said Pakistan’s failure to take action against Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed was not a factor in the action. “To my knowledge, that has nothing to do with that.”
Nauert did not give the size of the assistance that was being suspended, but said it is in addition to the $255 million in foreign military assistance that the Trump administration in August said it was withholding. She said the freeze does not apply to civilian assistance programmes.
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In July 2011, the US had suspended transfer of $800 million in military aid to Pakistan, two months after an American operation against al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
On Thursday, the New York Times carried an article saying, “The United States is urging the Pakistani government to cut off contact with militants and reassign intelligence agents with links to extremists, among other measures.
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United States officials had also demanded access to a member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, who was captured by Pakistani forces during the rescue of a Canadian-American family in October, and were angered when Pakistan rejected the request.
“White House officials said they would consider further steps, including removing Pakistan from a list of major non-NATO allies of the United States — a move that would carry enormous symbolic significance for the relationship.”
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On the types of military equipment covered by the freeze, Nauert said, “I’m not going to be able to get into the specifics of that. A lot of that is under DoD (department of defence), so I just won’t have the details about that.”
She said some exceptions could be made to the suspensions if it was determined that portions of the frozen aid were “critical to national security interests” or “required by law”.
(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)