US still not ready to resume security aid to Pakistan

The United States of America, which suspended more than $1.15 billion security assistance to Pakistan in January, is still not ready to resume dispensing aid to the country until it eliminates terrorist safe havens.

The US had accused Pakistan of harbouring terrorist organisations such as Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network, and accused the country of not taking decisive steps to eliminate militant activities.

“The US government has been very honest and open both publicly and privately with Pakistan on the things that they need to address before we can move forward with the resumption of the aid that has been suspended,” Lt Col Mike Andrews, a spokesperson of the Department of Defence, told PTI.

Andrews had recently accompanied Defence Secretary Jim Mattis to Afghanistan where they reviewed the progress of the South Asia Policy.

“I won’t get into real specifics. The sanctuaries inside of Pakistan where Taliban fighters can go over the border, can attack and come back and be safe... safe from Pakistani authorities, whether it’s law enforcement or military, that is certainly something that we need to, we need to see (to be addressed by Pakistan),” Andrews said when asked about the specific demands of the US to Pakistan.

This comes just days after a meeting between US Vice President Mike Pence and Pakistan's Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, where the former urged Pakistan to do more to weed out terrorist organisations from its soil.

"Vice President Pence reiterated President Trump's request that the Government of Pakistan must do more to address the continued presence of the Taliban, Haqqani Network, and other terrorist groups operating in their country," the White House said in a meeting.

"The Vice President stated that US efforts to eliminate terrorist groups who threaten US security and the stability of the region will continue and noted that Pakistan could and should work closer with the US," the statement read.

Abbasi was on a personal trip to the US to meet his ailing sister.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump said in a tweet that America has received nothing in return for the more than $33 billion it invested in Pakistan over the past 15 years.

“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” Trump wrote on Twitter. “The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools.”