Slashing aid would harm relationship
Warning issued by Pakistani ambassador to US
Washington: Slashing American aid to Pakistan, a step advocated by some lawmakers and Republican presidential candidates, would harden public opinion there against the US, Pakistan's ambassador to Washington said.
"Putting restrictions on aid after voting for it is counter-productive," Hussain Haqqani said recently at a breakfast with journalists hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Stopping aid entirely is likely to have an adverse impact that our relationship could do without", he said.
Pakistan is the third-largest recipient of US foreign aid after Afghanistan and Israel, according to the Congressional Research Service. Relations between Pakistan and the US have suffered this year, following the arrest of a US contractor for killing two Pakistanis, the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, and public accusations by top US officials that Pakistan was aiding terrorists.
‘Still engaged'
Haqqani said that while ties have frayed, "both sides are still engaged, and engaged at the highest levels".
Assistance to Pakistan, which became a leading recipient of US aid for counter-terrorism efforts following the September 11, 2001, Al Qaida attacks, is small compared with the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.
Since fiscal 2002, the US has provided more than $22 billion (Dh80.8 billion) in military and civilian assistance.
