WASHINGTON: There seems to be no reconciliation between Pakistan and UnitedStates on the issue of the security aid and assistance provided to Pakistanby the US as new law changes are surfacing that would formalise thesanctions against Pakistan.
United States is reportedly making amendments to the Defence act that wouldensure the aid cut to Pakistan.
Legislative changes in the US National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA)this year will lead to withholding of $350 million American aid toPakistan, says an official US report.
On Jan 4, the US State Department announced that Washington had suspendedsecurity assistance to Pakistan until Islamabad took decisive actionagainst the Taliban and the Haqqani network.
So far, various figures have been quoted on how much aid has beensuspended. But the report by the office of the US Special Inspector GeneralAfghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is the first to quote a specific figure.
The report, submitted to Congress this week, also warned that the Afghangovernment has been gradually losing control over its territory.ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER AD
Since 2009, the number of districts controlled or influenced by the Afghangovernment has been declining gradually while the number controlled orinfluenced by the militants has been rising, the report added. InspectorGeneral John Sopko also complained that the Pentagon had restricted SIGAR’saccess to information about war casualties and on the areas that are underthe control of Taliban and the Afghan government.
But on Tuesday, the BBC news network published a report on the currentsituation in Afghanistan, showing that the Taliban are active in 70 percent of the territory, fully controlling four per cent, and have an openphysical presence in another 66 per cent.
“Presumably the Taliban knows the territory that it has won, and thegovernment knows the territory that it has lost,” Peter Galbraith, a formerUnited Nations’ Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan, told AlJazeera.
In a chapter titled “Regional Dynamics,” the SIGAR report pointed out thatUS frustration with Pakistan grew throughout the reporting period, November2017 to January 2018. On Jan 1, President Donald Trump tweeted thatPakistan provides safe haven to terrorists who operate in Afghanistan andvowed to no longer provide foreign aid to Pakistan. And four days later,the administration announced that it was suspending security aid toPakistan.