News
Thursday, December 15, 2011
US clarifies media reports on aid to Pakistan
WASHINGTON: US Department of State Spokesperson Victoria Nuland corrected media reports alleging that the United States had cut $700 million in assistance to Pakistan at a press briefing.
She said, “We have not cut $700 million in aid to Pakistan. What we have is something on the defence authoristion bill, which is currently moving in the Congress, which would require the Department of Defence to continue providing a strategy on how we will use certain military assistance and measure its progress, in particular on progress that we are making with Pakistan on the IED issue.
Obviously, if this legislation becomes law, we’ll work with the government of Pakistan on how we can fulfil the requirements. But, this requires us to maintain a strategic perspective and to be clear with our Congress about the strategy. And as you know, this is a subject that the US and Pakistan have been working on for some time together, both through DoD programmes and through State Department programmes.” app
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk