Senate clears Pak aid bill

NEW DELHI: In a boost for Islamabad, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Pakistan aid bill with amendments asking Islamabad to ensure that the security assistance is not misused and is used to defeat the Taliban.

Without adding any strict conditions, the key Congressional panel passed the ���Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Act of 2009���, which was recently approved by the House of Representatives and seeks to triple aid to Pakistan. But unlike the House version, the Senate committee version does not impose strict conditions on Pakistan but merely asks Islamabad to ensure that the funds are not misutilised. Once this bill is approved by the US Congress, Islamabad will get $1.5 billion per annum for the next five years.

The Senate committee bill also leaves the matter of putting accountability on Pakistan up to the Obama administration. The series of amendments that were adopted by the Congressional panel attempt to chalk out the use of funds. One amendment asks Pakistan to ensure that the security assistance is used only for fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda and is not misused.

���US security assistance earmarked for Pakistan should be focused on counterinsurgency capabilities to defeat the Taliban insurgency and deny sanctuary to al-Qaeda and other extremists,��� said the amendment that was added to the bill.
The amendment, which was moved by Senator Tom Casey, also says the primary objective of the assistance to Pakistan should be to defeat the Taliban.

Yet another amendment says that one of the ���uses of funds��� is for the Pakistani establishment to facilitate political and legal reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas as spelled out in the legislation. Another amendment asks the US President to come up with benchmarks and consult Congressional panel on the Pakistan strategy.

The bill will now go up to the Senate for a vote. Once it is passed in the Senate, the House and Senate versions of the bill will be fused into one. The Obama administration has been arguing that conditionalities should not be imposed on Pakistan as that will be counterproductive to the US strategy.

However, the House version seeks greater accountability on the commitments made by Pakistan and includes a requirement that the Pakistani government demonstrate a sustained commitment to combating terrorist groups and makes progress. The bill also asks Pakistan to prevent ``cross border attacks into neighbouring countries������.

Pakistan has been seeking aid from different quarters. The European Union has promised to give Islamabad millions of dollars as humanitarian aid for people who have displaced in the offensive against the Taliban.