Trump administration to continue withholding $255m military aid to Pakistan

WASHINGTON - The United States has reportedly decided not to release previously promised $255 million military aid to Pakistan after President Donald Trump accused the country of given nothing but lies and deceit thinking US leaders to be fools.

According to international media, this was confirmed by an official of US National Security Council on the same day Trump lashed out at Pakistan.

CNN News quoted the official as, “The United States does not plan to spend the $255 million in [Fiscal Year] 2016 Foreign Military Financing for Pakistan at this time”.

He added, “The president has made clear that the United States expects Pakistan to take decisive action against terrorists and militants on its soil, and that Pakistan’s actions in support of the South Asia Strategy will ultimately determine the trajectory of our relationship, including future security assistance.”

US President Donald Trump tweeted on Monday that the United States had foolishly given Pakistan over $33 billion in aid over the last 15 years.

In his tweet, Trump accused Pakistan of given nothing but lies and deceit thinking US leaders to be fools. “They give safe havens to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!”

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/947802588174577664

The previous US administration promised the $255m aid to Pakistan in 2015 and announced to release it in 2016. Later the new President Trump held the office and attached new conditions to further delay the release of the aid.

This assistance was the major chunk of an estimated $1.1 billion of US aid Congress had authorised in 2016.

Although figures released to the US media estimate the volume of annual US assistance to Pakistan at $1.1bn, hundreds of millions of dollars are withheld every year under different restrictions imposed since 2011, when relations between the two countries began to deteriorate after Osama bin Laden’s discovery in Abbottabad, reported Dawn News.

In August 2017, the US State department following Trump's South Asia policy said: “Consistent with our new South Asia strategy, this decision allows us the flexibility to continue reviewing our level of cooperation with Pakistan prior to committing new security assistance resources to projects in Pakistan”.

The Trump administration also informed the Congress that it was putting the total amount of assistance into an escrow account that Pakistan could access only if it take actions against safe havens of terrorist in tribal areas.