US defends new military aid to Pakistan
Updated at: 1015 PST, Sunday, October 24, 2010
WASHINGTON: US State Department spokesman has defended the new US $2.29 billion military aid package to Pakistan, saying the South Asian country was a strategic partner in counter-insurgency operations.
We are supporting the Pakistan military because it is in our mutual interest to do so. Pakistan is a strategic partner, Spokesman Philip Crowley said in response to a series of questions from Indian journalists voicing New Delhis concerns over the move.
Its a vitally important partner in counterinsurgency operations and counterterrorism activities, and it is in our national interest to continue to support Pakistan, he told reporters at the regular briefing on Friday.
Pressed further on the military aid package, Crowley said, This is something that benefits Pakistan. It benefits the United States, and we think it benefits the region as a whole. We want to see a secure, stable, peaceful region. It is in our interest expressly because there are extremists in the region that threaten countries there and countries here in the West.
We want to see a continuation of the kind of determined effort that Pakistan has shown over the past year or so, and what were seeing here is an investment in the very capabilities that we believe can help Pakistan continue to carry out its counterinsurgency responsibilities.
Asked if there were any safeguards in the aid package to prevent Pakistan from diverting the money from counter-insurgency purposes, Crowley said, Well, all countries are sovereign, but by the same token, weve tailored this package we believe to improve training and equipping that is focused on our counter- insurgency programmes, he said.
Under intense questioning, Crowley also said that US ties with Pakistan do not come at the expense of India and vice-versa. This is a subject (Indias concerns about US military assistance to Pakistan) that comes up in all of our discussions with high-level Indian officials. It comes up in all of our discussions with high-level Pakistani officials, he said.
US defends new military aid to Pakistan