Bill imposing aid conditions on Pak a good start: Indo-US body

An Indian American advocacy group has termed a bill on Pakistan introduced in the US Congress as "good start" which seeks to condition American aid on Islamabad's cooperation in combating terrorism. The US India Political Action Committee (USINPAC) has commended the bill on Pakistan introduced in the House of Representative by Congressman, Howard L Berman. "We will continue to urge close coordination between the Obama Administration and the US Congress to ensure the accountability and transparency of US taxpayer dollars flowing to the Government of Pakistan," said Sanjay Puri, chairman of the group in a statement issued yesterday. "This bill is a good start. Nevertheless, more needs to be done." USINPAC and other Indian American organisations had launched a campaign at the Hill to impose conditions on Pakistan and linking the aid to it on Islamabad's commitment and progress in the action taken by it against terrorists. USINPAC has strongly advocated the need for Congressional oversight on the billions of US taxpayer dollars flowing to Pakistan with little or no accountability of how the funds are being used or whether any of these funds have been diverted to terrorist organisations.

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