WASHINGTON – United States (US) President Donald Trump’s administration hasquietly started cutting scores of Pakistani officers from coveted trainingand educational programmes that have been a hallmark of bilateral militaryrelations for more than a decade, officials say.

The move, which has not been previously reported, is one of the first knownimpacts from Trump’s decision this year to suspend US security assistanceto Pakistan to compel it to crack down on militants. The Pentagon and thePakistan Army did not comment directly on the decision or the internaldeliberations, but officials from both countries privately criticised themove. US officials, speaking to Reuters on the condition of anonymity, saidthey were worried the decision could undermine a key trust-building measure.

Pakistani officials warned it could push their military to further look toChina or Russia for leadership training. The effective suspension ofPakistan from the US government’s International Military Education andTraining program (IMET) will close off places that had been set aside for66 Pakistani officers this year, a State Department spokesperson said.

The places will either be unfilled or given to officers from othercountries. Dan Feldman, a former US special representative for Afghanistanand Pakistan, called the move “very short-sighted and myopic”. “This willhave lasting negative impacts limiting the bilateral relationship well intothe future,” Feldman told Reuters.

The State Department spokesperson, speaking on the condition of anonymity,said the IMET cancellations were valued at $2.41 million so far. At leasttwo other programmes have also been affected, the spokesperson said. It isunclear precisely what level of military cooperation still continuesoutside the IMET programme, beyond the top-level contacts between US andPakistani military leaders.

The US military has traditionally sought to shield such educationalprogrammes from political tensions, arguing that the ties built by bringingforeign military officers to the United States pay long-term dividends. Forexample, the US Army’s War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which wouldnormally have two Pakistani military officers per year, boasts graduatesincluding Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar, the Director-GeneralInter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI).

The War College, the US Army’s premier school for foreign officers, says ithas hosted 37 participants from Pakistan over the past several decades. Itwill have no Pakistani students in the upcoming academic year, aspokeswoman said. Pakistan has also been removed from programmes at the USNaval War College, Naval Staff College and courses including cybersecuritystudies. Reuters