Key US lawmakers not willing to back military aid to Pakistan

WASHINGTON: Key members of US Congress are not prepared to support military aid to Pakistan, said Elizabeth Trudeau, Director Office of Press Relations State Department, underscoring the strains in relations between the two countries.

When asked during a daily press briefing on Thursday whether the House Armed Services Committee increased the condition for the release of the Coalition Support Funds until and unless US State Department certifies that Islamabad has taken appropriate action against the Haqqani Network, she said: “I will note key members of Congress have been clear they’re not prepared to support US military aid to Pakistan absent some specific actions”.

“As always, we’re committed to working with Congress to deliver security assistance to our partners and allies. It furthers US goals by building capacity to meet shared security challenges,” she added.

She parried a question in connection with financing of F-16 aircraft. Asked whether the state department is willing to certify that Islamabad is taking enough action against the militant group she said:“we’ve spoken about our views on Haqqani quite a bit as well as what we view Pakistan needs to do. “

Trudeau said Pakistan has spoken that they would not discriminate against (militant) groups. “We could encourage them to continue to live up to that,” she added.

Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz on Thursday admitted there was a ‘stalemate’ in relations with Washington during the last three months.

“A glimpse of it is seen in the US Congress decision of denying subsidy on the sale of F-16 jets to Pakistan,” he said while winding up a debate in Senate.

He said Islamabad would take up the issue of the financing of F-16 fighter jets with the US authorities during talks from May 30 and June 3.