Washington | The US has suspended USD 3 billion in security assistance to Pakistan this year after it failed to rein in terrorist groups, a figure which is much higher than the USD 1.3 billion quoted by the Trump administration earlier, according to sources.
The USD 3 billion amount was calculated in the latest compilation of all figures coming from various funding streams from different fiscal years, PTI has learnt.
Not been made public yet, the suspended figure of USD3 billion is much higher than the USD1.3 billion quoted by President Donald Trump this month and USD 1.66 billion reported by the Pentagon last week.
The compilation of the figures coming from various wings of the US Government is understood to have been done after the recent Twitter spat between President Trump and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. The US president this month said that Pakistan did not “do a damn thing” for the US despite billions of dollars in American aid for the South Asian nation.
Khan fired back, telling the president on Twitter that he “needs to be informed about historical facts.” Khan said that the US aid to Pakistan was a “miniscule” USD 20 billion, while the country lost 75,000 people and more than USD 123 billion fighting the ‘US War on Terror’.
Over the past several years, senior US officials had been accusing Pakistan of playing a double game with the US and not taking satisfactory action against terrorist groups like Haqqani networks, the Taliban and Lashkar-a-Taiba.
During the second term of the Obama administration, US lawmakers started bringing in legislations that imposed stringent conditions on Pakistan for certain security assistance. But Trump became the first US president to announce suspension of security aid to Pakistan.
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools. They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump announced on January 1. Since then, senior administration officials assert no security aid has been given to Pakistan. Among this also includes the coalition support fund.
Early this month, Trump charged Pakistan of harbouring Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda leader, and asserted that his country will not give any financial aid to Pakistan. Trump told White House reporters last week that he wants to have a better relationship with Pakistan, but would not revoke suspension of aid unless he sees changes in the approach of Pakistan towards terrorist organisations.
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