Pakistan ‘received $25.91b’ from US since 9/11


LAHORE - A report presented to Congress reveals that Pakistan received a total of $25.91 billion from the US in terms of military and economic aid since Sept 11, 2001.The US had budgeted approximately $17.22 billion in military and $8.68 billion in economic assistance to Pakistan during the period; thus making it the largest source of bilateral aid to Pakistan, says the report presented in April this year by Congressional Research Service for the US Congress.The break-up of security related aid shows that from 2002 to 2012 Pakistan got $10.68 billion as Coalition Support Fund, $2.75 billion as Foreign Military Financing, $2.35 billion under Pakistan Counter insurgency Fund, $312 million for global training and equipment, $265 million out of Counter-Narcotics Funds of Pentagon, $27 million under International Disaster Assistance, $717 million under International Narcotics Control and Law, and $115 million under Anti Terrorism Assistance.The details of economic aid under different heads show that Pakistan got $6.61 billion under Economic Support Fund, $704 million International Disaster Assistance, $572 million as Food Aid, $286 million as Development Assistance, $249 million for Child Survival and Health, $248 million under Migration and Refugee Assistance, and $17 million under Human Rights and Democracy Funds.According to an explanatory note as written in the said report, Congress also authorised Pakistan to use the FY2003 and FY2004 ESF allocations to cancel a total of $1.5 billion in debt to the US government. Apart from this assistance, the US also sanctioned approximately $1.2 billion in economic assistance to Pakistan for 2010, with another $300 million pending through the president’s supplemental request.In the next few years, the US expects to spend more than $1.5 billion a year, as authorised by the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009. Through this bill, better known as the Kerry-Lugar-Berman bill, Congress authorised (but has not yet appropriated) a tripling of US development assistance to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over five years to improve Pakistan’s governance, support its economic growth, and invest in its people.The report also details the Foreign Military Sales agreements with Pakistan worth $5.4 billion for FY2002-FY2010 (in-process sales of F-16 combat aircraft and related equipment account for more than half of this). The US has provided Pakistan with more than $2.1 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants since 2001 (including FY2010 funds). These funds are used to purchase US military equipment for longer-term modernisation efforts.Major post-2001 defence supplies provided or soon to be provided under FMF include eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and their refurbishment (valued at $474 million; four delivered, but two of these were destroyed in a March 2011 attack by militants); about 6,312 TOW anti-armour missiles ($186 million; at least 2,007 delivered); more than 5,600 military radio sets ($163 million); six AN/TPS-77 surveillance radars ($100 million); six C-130E transport aircraft and their refurbishment ($76 million); the USS McInerney; an ex-Perry class missile frigate (via EDA, $65 million for refurbishment, delivered); 20 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters (via EDA, $48 million for refurbishment, 12 delivered); and 121 refurbished TOW missile launchers ($25 million).Military Training and Law Enforcement:In 2007, the Pentagon began using its funds to train and equip the FC, as well as to increase the involvement of the US Special Operations Command in assisting with Pakistani counterterrorism efforts. Americans have also engaged in training Pakistan’s elite Special Service Group commandos with a goal of doubling that force’s size to 5,000. These efforts continued under the Obama Administration.The US programme to train Pakistan’s paramilitary forces reportedly has been hampered by Pakistan’s reluctance to send troops who are needed for urgent operations elsewhere. Some analysts also contend that only US military personnel (as opposed to contractors) can effectively train Pakistani soldiers.Comparison with Chinese aid:The report also makes a comparison between the aid provided to Pakistan by the US and the one coming from China. “A close and long-standing ally of Pakistan because of its own rivalry with India, China has provided some aid and loans to Pakistan, but nothing close to the level of the United States and other major donors”, says the report.It says between 2004 and 2009, China provided only $9.0 million in grant assistance and $217 million in loans to Pakistan. “China, through large-scale and mainly extractive investment projects, stands to gain access to resources in Pakistan, and may even benefit from a planned pipeline that would deliver Iranian natural gas through Pakistan”, says the report.Other international donors:Nearly all of Pakistan’s major multilateral partners have committed to increase their funding to Pakistan over the next few years, according to the report. The World Bank tripled its committed support for Pakistan in FY2009, reaching an all-time high of $1.7 billion. The ADB, which disbursed a record $1.9 billion in 2008, plans to loan an average of $1.5 billion annually through 2011. The UK’s Department for International Development has pledged to double assistance to Pakistan to approximately $250 million per year. Thus, the increases in US aid are part of a larger phenomenon of increased international support for Pakistan’s development, the report says.

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