*WASHINGTON: **United States piles up pressure against Pakistan yet again. *
*The Trump administration has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF)to ensure real structural reforms are included as conditionality beforeapproving a loan package for Pakistan.*
“We have not seen the IMF package, yet we understand that there has been anagreement reached between the IMF and the government of Pakistan butcertainly we have communicated our strong views, and Secretary (of StateMike) Pompeo has done so publicly, on the need for any package to includereal structural reforms,” Ambassador Alice Wells, Acting AssistantSecretary of State, told members of Congress on Thursday.
During a special hearing on ‘US Interests in South Asia and the 2020Budget’ before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ambassador Wells didnot directly comment on the question if the IMF loan to Pakistan should beblocked until Dr Shakeel Afridi is released.
Read Top Stories
However, she said that the administration has already withheld 130 milliondollars in assistance to Pakistan as a result of Dr Afridi’s incarceration.
She maintained that Dr Afridi has been jailed “wrongly andinappropriately”, and the administration continues to raise theissue withPakistani officials.
