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MANATU: A soldier fires a machine gun mounted on a tank in Manatu mountain at central part of Kurram Agency during an operation against militants on Sunday. The US has blocked $800 million military aid to Pakistan. AFP photo
ISLAMABAD - In a move which is likely to take the relationship between Pakistan and the United States teetering on the brink of collapse, the Obama Administration said on Sunday it was withholding some $800 million in military aid to Islamabad in a show of displeasure over its cutback on US trainers, limits on visas for US personnel and other bilateral irritants.
In a guarded reaction to the US decision, an army spokesman said Pakistan had not been formally informed about this development but “any such move by the US will not impact the ongoing military operations against militants in the tribal regions”. Nonetheless, in anticipation of such a decision by the US, Pakistani authorities have already been making efforts to increase defence relations with its trusted ally China to lessen the adverse impact on the country’s defence capabilities in case of halt in US military assistance.
Steps: White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley told ABC television that Pakistan had “taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid”. Daley said the US relationship with Pakistan is “difficult” and must be made “to work over time”. But Daley told ABC that until “we get through that difficulty, we’ll hold back some of the money that the American taxpayers are committed to giving” to the US ally.
Reasons: The US Defence Department said the Pakistan Army had requested a “significant cutback” of US military trainers and limited the ability of US personnel to obtain visas. “While the Pakistani military leadership tells us this is a temporary step, the reduced presence of our trainers and other personnel means we can’t deliver the assistance that requires training and support to be effective,” the department said in a written response to questions.
The New York Times, which reported the aid curtailment in its Sunday editions, said Pakistan has shut down a US programme that had been training paramilitary forces, sending home more than 100 US trainers in recent weeks, and has threatened to close the base the CIA has been using for drone attacks on militant targets. The Defence Department in its reply said a series of events over the last eight months “have affected our bilateral relations.”
“We remain committed to helping Pakistan build its capabilities, but we have communicated to Pakistani officials on numerous occasions that we require certain support in order to provide certain assistance,” the Pentagon said.
“Working together, allowing an appropriate presence for US military personnel, providing necessary visas, and affording appropriate access are among the things that would allow us to effectively provide assistance,” it added.
The State Department added, “We are taking a very clear-eyed approach to our relationship with Pakistan – weighing both the importance of a continued long-term relationship and the importance of near-term action on key issues. The US will continue to work with Pakistani leaders “to affirm the importance of cooperating towards our shared national security objectives,” the department added in a written reply to a query.
The $800 million equates to about a third of the annual US security aid to Pakistan, according to US officials. Military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Pakistan Today that the US officials had not yet informed Pakistan about the withholding of military assistance. “They (the Americans) have not informed us yet about any changes to the aid package, they have not sent us anything in black and white,” he said.
However, he said any pause in assistance would not affect the ongoing offensive of Pakistani security forces against the militants in various tribal regions. “We have been doing these operations on our own in the tribal areas and we have sufficient resources to continue them,” he said. Another Pakistani official on condition of anonymity said owing to serious differences between Islamabad and Washington over a host of issues in the wake of al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s killing, Pakistani authorities had been reaching out to China for enhancement of defence relations.
“The purpose is to mitigate the negative impact of any break-up in ties with Washington as far as the defence sector is concerned. We believe that increasing defence cooperation with China would help fill the gap arising from the prospect of suspension of military aid from the US,” he said. He said Pakistan had already begun jointly producing the JF-17 Thunder fighter plane with China. Moreover, he said the government had also given permission to the navy to start negotiations with China for the purchase of up to six new submarines.
“There are some other sectors as well in the field of defence where the Chinese friends could bail us out,” he said but refused to go into more details. Meanwhile, commenting on the situation, former army general Moinuddin Haider said that the halt on US aid would further strain the two countries’ relationship and called on the US to reconsider. “This move will only add to the anti-Americanism in our country,” he said.Daniel Markey, an expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in the US, added that the two countries’ ties were on a downward slide.
“You need a much more dramatic about-face by the Pakistanis in order to make the continued assistance politically sustainable,” he said.
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