The US state department has waived legal requirements that made its nearly $2 billion annual aid to Pakistan contingent on its cooperation in counter-terrorism, ending nuclear proliferation and building democratic institutions, a Congressional Research Service report has revealed.
Secretary of state Hillary Clinton is said to have informed Congress that she is setting aside legal restrictions that would have blocked the $2 billion aid.
Disbursing the funds is “important to the national security interests of the US” , she said. The waiver is evidently linked to securing Pakistan’s cooperation in the upcoming US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 and preventing all all-out civil war in the country once the US leaves.
Clinton, in her September 13 message to Congress, said she is waiving provisions of the 2009 Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act (EPPA) and the state department’s 2012 budget requiring that she certify that Islamabad has met certain conditions before the $2 billion in economic, military and counter-terrorism assistance can be disbursed.
The conditions require Islamabad to have made progress in “ceasing support, including by any elements within the Pakistani military or its intelligence agency, to extremist groups” , especially those that have attacked US led forces in Afghanistan. Islamabad is also required to make progress in stopping its extremists from operating in Pakistan, staging attacks in neighboring countries, and shutting down terrorist bases in the country.
The waiver means that despite the mistrust, both governments appear to be striving to bring ties back on the rails.
