Blocked aid

The election of Donald Trump as US president was always likely to be bad news for Pakistan. Not only had Trump himself shown an inclination to forge even closer ties with India, he staffed his administration with hardliners who had a history of claiming that Pakistan was not doing enough to tackle militant groups in the country. His defence secretary James Mattis used to be the commander of the US Central Command which was responsible for American military operations in the region, and had long argued that Pakistan was an untrustworthy ally. Now Mattis has refused to certify that Pakistan is taking sufficient action against the Haqqani Network. This has led to the US withholding $50 million in Coalition Support Fund payments that were due to Pakistan. These payments are made to Pakistan to defray the cost of military operations that we have undertaken to not only keep our country safe but to prevent militant groups from attacking US forces in Afghanistan. That the US would do this was signalled by its State Department’s annual Country Report on Terrorism, which accused Pakistan of either outright aiding or refusing to take action against groups like the Haqqani Network and Jaish-e-Mohammed. This is not the first time the US has withheld CSF payments; the Obama administration last year withheld $300 million using the same justification for the non-payment.

The Trump administration’s decision comes as it is mulling sending more troops to Afghanistan to try and quell the Taliban insurgency. It is not a coincidence that it is parroting the line long pushed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network are being backed by Pakistan. The decision was likely also affected by the close relationship Trump has built with India – another country that accuses us of backing militant groups. Under Trump, the US has expanded unilateral drone strikes in Pakistan and is considering whether to downgrade our status as a major non-Nato ally. It doesn’t help that we have moved closer to China and are pursuing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which both the US and India see as a threat to their hegemony in the region. Ties between Pakistan and the US had already been on a downward trajectory as the US decided to decisively shift in India’s direction. Withholding reimbursement for money we have already spent fighting militants is the final proof that the US is no longer an ally we can rely on.