It is also worth mentioning here that Pakistan has so far reimbursed $700 million out of a total of $1 billion authorised in the FY-15 under the Coalition Support Fund (CSF).
Advertisement
The deadline for payment was June 30, and Carter let the deadline pass without authorizing the funds. In addition to helping fund operations, Pakistan’s military also used the money to buy food and ammunition, the Pentagon has said.
Pakistan has once again stated that it was taking action against all the terrorist groups without any discrimination.
“Fifteen years after 9/11, Pakistan stubbornly perpetuates its policy of harbouring the Taliban and Haqqani network”.
Pakistan has been authorized United States dollars 900 million in fiscal 2016 CSF. The Pentagon has refused to pay Pakistan $300 million in military reimbursements after U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter decided not to tell Congress that Pakistan was taking adequate action against the Haqqani network.
According to media reports, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman, Nafees Zakaria, said in his weekly press briefing in Islamabad that a number of Kashmiris have been “martyred” and many others lost their sight during “repression by the occupation forces”. This added to tensions after key usa lawmakers, including Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, notified President Barack Obama’s administration that they would not approve using US funding part of a sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan this year.
“There is still a great deal of bilateral engagement between the two countries on a range of issues, and the U.S. firmly believes Pakistan must play a role in conversations about a political resolution in Afghanistan – which means there are still some equities remaining in the relationship that must be considered and protected, even as the United States ramps up the pressure on Pakistan”, Chaudhary said.
He said the operation Zarb-e-Azb has seen a resouding success due to which last bastions of terrorists in the tribal areas have been cleared.
Washington’s ties with Pakistan grew particularly strained after the United States secretly launched the raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
“Over the past decade, Pakistan has conducted a large number of military operations that have sequentially dismantled and destroyed terrorist infrastructure on its side of the global border with Afghanistan”, an embassy spokesman said in a written statement.
The statement added that Pakistan would “continue to work with its partners in the long-term effort” to ensure stability in those areas.
“This step to hold Pakistan accountable for its failure to crack down on the Haqqani network was long overdue”, Lisa Curtis, an eminent South Asia expert, from The Heritage Foundation, said.
“Fifteen years after 9/11 attack, Pakistan stubbornly perpetuates its policy of harboring the Taliban and Haqqani network”.
The US Senate blocked recently a proposal from the Obama administration to sell Pakistan eight new F-16 fighter jets in a heavily subsidised deal for the same reason. “For the last few decades Islamabad-Rawalpindi have always promised they will take action against terror groups and requested both for time as well as assistance (economic and military)”.
“It is a way of sending a signal to the Pakistani military of what’s to come, in the sense that the United States is no longer willing to give blank checks to Pakistan”, she said.
“We are very focused on making sure that the appropriate incentives are out there in making sure Pakistan acts in a manner that is consistent with both of our national security interests, and certainly with ours”, the staff member said.
Advertisement
However, she noted that she does not think the CSF determination means the US-Pak relationship is headed towards a downward spiral.
