The United States remains conscious of the significance of close ties with Pakistan and has no plans to lower the key South Asian relationship, the State Department said.
The US commitment to sustain wide-ranging relations with Pakistan – whose role is considered critical to regional stability and a smooth U.S. drawdown from Afghanistan – came in the wake of a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report this week which said Washington’s aid for Islamabad represents a steep decline from $1.9 billion last year to $1.2 billion new fiscal year starting October 1.
Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters at the daily briefing that Washington is alive to the importance of its relationship with Pakistan and Secretary of State John Kerry is eager to visit the country.
When questioned pointedly if the US was considering to downgrade its relationship with Pakistan – as claimed by some Indian media reports interpreting decline in US assistance for Pakistan – the spokesperson responded that there was “absolutely not” such move.
John Kerry, the spokesperson said, has been a “big advocate” of aid for Pakistan, which has been extensive over the last several years.
“The secretary (Kerry) is looking forward to visiting Pakistan. He would like to be able to spend some time on the ground. He recognizes the important relationship we have with Pakistan. As you know, he also spoke with – has spoken with the prime minister (Nawaz Sharif) when – several times, actually, since he was elected. And I think that further confirms the importance of the relationship.”
Regarding specifics of the next fiscal year’s aid levels for Pakistan, the spokesperson said she would need to have a closer look at the Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.
But, she explained, as the budget is rolled out by the White House in Congress and worked through, she expected the details on funding would be the most accurate.
The US assistance for Pakistan is covered under $7.5 billion Kerry-Lugar-Berman programme, which spans over five years.
In its report, the CRS did not explain the “steep decline” but the US officials, while detailing the foreign budget request earlier this year, officials in Washington had said a Pakistan-specific programme called Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund was being abolished, in view of the implementation issues.
However, the officials said US security assistance for Pakistan would be covered under foreign military funding.
Moreover, the US assistance for Pakistan under Kerry-Lugar-Berman programme also varies each year.
Meanwhile, the latest CRS report noted that the United States’ strategic interests are inextricably linked with a stable Pakistan.
It noted that spurring the South Asian country’s energy sector remains Washington’s highest priority in its assistance for Islamabad in the new fiscal year 2014 for which the Obama administration has requested $265 million to aid the country’s energy sector development in the new fiscal year.
“According to the State Department’s FY2014 Congressional Budget Justification, assistance to Pakistan’s energy sector is the “highest priority” and the administration’s request for $265 million in FY2014 funding for this effort accounts for more than one-third of all civilian aid requested for the coming fiscal year,” the report said.
“The goal is to support the Pakistani government in “developing a policy environment that will attract private sector investment and increase cost recovery, decrease technical and commercial losses, and add megawatts to the grid through visible generation projects.”
By the end of 2013, aid expects to have added fully 900 MW to Pakistan’s power grid, enough to power some two million homes and businesses. An added 300 MW is planned by the end of 2014. The great majority of this added capacity will come from improvements of the Muzaffargarh and Jamshoro power stations (serving the cities of Multan and Hyderabad, respectively), as well as modernization of the Tarbela Dam. There is a particular focus on boosting Pakistan’s hydropower potential by funding projects to improve capacity at five dams (Mangla, Kurram Tangi, Gomal Zam, Satpara, and Tarbela). The Tarbela Dam is one of the world’s largest and supplies 16 percent of the country’s electricity. In March, a project to restore three of the dam’s generators was completed, adding 128 megawatts to the national power grid.
The United States had provided the $16.5 million needed for the repairs. In mid-2012, Congress released $280 million in new assistance for Pakistan’s energy sector; these funds will support projects at Mangla and Kurram Tangi.
