US Owes Us $300mn to Support War Against Terror: Pakistan Govt
The announcement comes four days before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to visit Pakistan PM Imran Khan.
Pakistan claimed Sunday, 2 September, that the USD 300 million aid the Pentagon has decided to scrap was not a military aid as the US owed this money to Islamabad for its support in the war on terror and was supposed to reimburse it.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the matter would be taken up during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's upcoming visit to Pakistan.
He said the US in principle should pay back the money to Pakistan because it was spent for a common objective to defeat militancy and create peace and stability.
Pentagon Announces Cancellation Of Aid
The Pentagon has announced that the US will cancel USD 300 million in military aid to Pakistan over its failure to take "decisive actions" to support President Donald Trump's new South Asia policy and act against terror groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The US military has decided to cancel USD 300 million in aid to Pakistan over its failure to take decisive actions against militant groups, the Pentagon said on Saturday, 1 September, a fresh blow to the deteriorating ties between the two nations.
The move, which needs to be approved by the US Congress, is part of a broader suspension of aid announced in January.
US President Donald Trump, since assuming office, has been tough on Pakistan over its inaction against terror groups. Trump in August last year unveiled his new South Asia policy and asked Pakistan to do more against such groups.
The US in January this year suspended more than USD 1.15 billion security assistance to Pakistan, accusing it of harbouring terror groups like the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network within its borders and showing unwillingness to take "decisive actions" against them, a move that affected bilateral ties.
He said that the US military would aim to spend the money on other "urgent priorities" before the funds expire on 30 September 2018.
With the latest move, the Department of Defence (DoD) has reprogrammed USD 800 million CSF destined for Pakistan, as US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis did not give the necessary certification to Congress that the country has taken strong steps against terrorist groups like the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
"This is not a new decision or a new announcement," Faulkner told PTI in response to a question.
"We continue to press Pakistan to indiscriminately target all terrorist groups, including the Haqqani Network and LeT in the region," Faulkner said, adding that the USD 300 million aid – which had earlier been suspended – should be used elsewhere.
Pentagon will have a congressional response before 30 September, to allow it to implement the reprogramming actions, he said.
The issue of combating terrorism is expected to be raised by Pompeo during his talks in Washington with Khan this week.
A row erupted between the two nations following a telephone call by Pompeo to Khan on 23 August, as Islamabad took exception to the American version of the conversation that the issue of terrorism was discussed during the call.
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