Link Pak security aid to performance: Top US Senator

“For far too long, the US-Pakistan relationship had been in desperate need of a serious overhaul. For too many years…

it has been unsteady balancing-act in one of the most turbulent spots on earth that in the last year alone has seen a Taliban resurgence, a state of emergency, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the return of democratic government and now political stalemate,” Biden, the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said yesterday.

At a hearing on Pakistan in his Committee, he called for linking of security aid to performance. “We’re spending over USD 1 billion annually, and it’s not clear we’re getting our money’s worth. We should be willing to spend more if we get better returns and less if we don’t.”

However, his plan for Pakistan will triple non-security aid to USD 1.5 billion annually, making it a long term commitment over a ten year period.

“This aid would be unconditional: it’s our pledge to the Pakistani people. Instead of funding military hardware, it would build schools, clinics and roads and help develop the Federally Administered Tribal Area, where extremism is taking deeper root,” said the top Democrat.