Strained ties: US Financial Assistance To Pakistan Under Review

The United States of America has released fewer funds to Pakistan in 2018 than it did the previous year, and Mike Pompeo, the US Secretary of State, believes the numbers will be less going forward.

Responding to questions from Congressman Dana Rohrabacher who wanted US to stop providing any financial assistance to Pakistan until it releases Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden in 2011, Pompeo said: "With respect to Pakistan, we released far fewer funds in 2018 than in the year prior. The remainder of the funds available are under review. My guess is that that number will be smaller still."

Afridi was charged with treason for running a fake vaccine programme that helped the CIA confirm Bin Laden's presence in the city of Abbottabad.

Afridi’s imprisonment has been a source of tension between Pakistan and the US for a long time now. The US feels Pakistan's reluctance to release Afridi is proof of the country's reluctance in the fight against terror. Pakistan, for its part, claims the raid, which came without any warning, was a violation of sovereign territory.

Afridi has completed seven years of jail term and speculations are rife that he could be released. Last month, Afridi was transferred from Peshawar’s central prison to a jail in Punjab for "security reasons," triggering rumours of possible early release.

On Thursday, Pompeo told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee that he worked "diligently" to secure Afridi's release in his previous role as the CIA Director, but added that he has been "unsuccessful" so far.

"Please be aware that it's at my heart and I know it's important and we can do that. We can achieve that outcome," he said.

Pompeo also said US needed to take note of the treatment meted out to American diplomats by Pakistan.

"Our State Department officials are being treated badly as well. Folks working in the embassies and in the consulates and other places are not being treated well by the Pakistani government either, a real problem that we need to take the measure of also," he said.