ISLAMABAD: The United States has decided to slash $55 million out of the $156 million bill sent by Pakistan for rendering its military services to fight against Taleban and Al-Qaeda in the volatile tribal areas adjacent to war-torn Afghanistan.
Finance Ministry’s Adviser Shaukat Tarin said the US administration has “changed the format” for money released under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) for Islamabad, resulting in a “massive” deduction.
Pakistan, a key US ally in the fight against terrorism, has mobilized more than 100,000 troops in tribal areas to check militants from launching cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.
The cut in the US reimbursements is a setback to the civilian government led by President Asif Ali Zardari. Tarin said Islamabad had taken the matter of the deducted money with Washington.
Pakistan joined the US-led international alliance against terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the US, with Islamabad getting some $297 million every year since 2003, in the form of Foreign Military Grants to quell the Taleban militancy.
But the authorities in Washington have said repeatedly that Islamabad was not doing enough to control insurgency in its tribal region.
The new US government, led by President Barack Obama, has vowed to focus more on Pakistan in its policy to defeat Taleban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.
In its efforts, the new administration would link Pakistan’s aid with the security in the border region in Afghanistan, the White House said in a policy statement last week. Pakistan, which has recently avoided default by obtaining a $7.6 billion loan package from the IMF, is relying heavily on the US to revive its economy.
The US has so far provided between $10 and $11 billion of aid for social development as well as in the form of military aid. But Pakistan says it has suffered financial losses many times more than it has collectively received aid from American and its Western allies after becoming front line state in the ongoing war against terrorism.
