WASHINGTON – The United States may lift the suspicion of security aid tothe government of Pakistan once it sees Islamabad take action to addressits concerns, US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said during aSenate hearing, Sputnik has reported.

“In January, the president suspended security aid to Pakistan… we mayconsider lifting this suspension when we see decisive and sustained actionsto address our concerns, including targeting all terrorist groups operatingwithin its territory without distinction,” John Sullivanlink>saidduring a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the new US strategyin Afghanistan.

Sullivan, however, told the committee the Trump administration hasn’t seenany evidence that Pakistan has met its demands for drastic measureson extremist groups operating on Pakistani territory.

The United States hopes Pakistan will help convince the Taliban to enterinto a peace process. Trump’s South Asia strategy is showing signsof progress with the Taliban momentum beginning to slow down and Afghanforces now on the offensive, he continued.

“We also encourage restraint in Pakistan’s military, nuclear and missileprogrammes, and seek continued, closer alignment of Pakistan’snonproliferation policies with our own,” said Sullivan.

On January 1, US President Donald Trump accused Islamabad of granting a”safe haven to the terrorists,” despite his country’s multibillion-dollaraid to Pakistan.

On January 4, the State Department declared that the US would suspend $900million in security assistance to Pakistan until it does more to combat theAfghan Taliban and Haqqani network terrorist groups.