As it announced a whopping $2.29 billion in new military aid to Islamabad despite New Delhi’s concerns in this regard, U.S. has said its ties with Pakistan do not come at the expense of India and vice versa.
“This is a subject (India’s concerns about U.S. military assistance to Pakistan) that comes up in all of our discussions with high-level Indian officials. It comes up in all of our discussions with high-level Pakistani officials,” U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters when asked about New Delhi’s concerns on the issue.
“We continue to provide the same message to both countries. This is not a zero-sum proposition. Our assistance to Pakistan does not come at the expense of India, and our relationship with India does not come at the expense of Pakistan,” he said.
Less than a month ago, Defence Minister A.K. Antony in his meetings with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates had expressed his concerns that U.S. military aid to Pakistan normally ends up being used against India.
Ms. Clinton on Friday announced a new $2 billion security assistance package for Pakistan, as she pushed Islamabad to take stronger action against terrorists within the country, thus ignoring India’s concerns.
She also announced an aid package to Pakistan in International Military Education and Training (IMET), thus increasing the total to $2.29 billion.
Mr. Crowley, however, evaded a question if there is any safeguard in the aid package to prevent Pakistan from diverting the money from counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism purposes.
“Well, all countries are sovereign, but by the same token, we’ve tailored this package we believe to improve training and equipping that is focused on our counter-insurgency programmes,” he said.
“We are committed to a multi-year programme that will involve working with Congress on annual appropriations,” Mr. Crowley said when asked whether in the request to Congress there are any provision for yearly monitoring of the U.S. aid to Pakistan.
He said the U.S. wants to see a secure, stable peaceful in the region.
“It is in our interest expressly because there are extremists in the region that threaten countries there and countries here in the West,” he said.
“We want to see a continuation of the kind of determined effort that Pakistan has shown over the past year or so, and what we’re seeing here is an investment in the very capabilities that we believe can help Pakistan continue to carry out its counterinsurgency responsibilities,” Mr. Crowley said while defending the Obama Administration’s decision to give fresh military aid package to Pakistan.
