Despite diplomatic strain US sending USD 3.1 billion for Pak
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Washington: Despite a stand off with Pakistan over the issue of jailing of its diplomat Raymond Davis, US has not proposed any slashing of aid to Islamabad, and for the second year in running has allocated a whopping USD 3.1 billion as assistance to the country for 2012.
President Barack Obama has kept up the aid levels to Pakistan and of the huge allocation a staggering USD 1.1 billion is to provide critical equipment and training for Pakistani security forces, increasing the ability of the Pakistani government to combat insurgents inside that country and eliminating the insurgent's capacity to conduct cross-border operations in Afghanistan that jeopardise US lives and the mission there.
In 2010, Pakistan had received USD 79 million under the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) Budget, which is estimated to jump to USD 1.3 billion in 2011.
Obama has requested USD 73.6 billion for the State Department in its USD 3.73 trillion budget for the next fiscal year and of this a significant portion has been allocated for programmes in Pakistan, Afghanistan as well as Iraq, where US is likely to face problems as withdrawal of American troops continues.
In a significant development, the American budget retains major assistant programmes for US allies in the Middle-East including USD 1.5 billion for Egypt.
But US officials warn that money for the country which include USD 1.3 billion military aid could be altered depending on developments. The stepped up military assistance to Pakistan will come under the Overseas Contingency Operations Budget.
The bulk of American assistance USD 1.9 billion has been proposed to promote a secure, stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan with a capacity to govern effectively and accountably.
The major focus of the civil aid is on energy, economic growth, agriculture, the delivery of health and education services. USD 1.5 billion of this is part of the Kerry-Lugar-Berman Bill.
Another USD 45 million has been proposed in operations to support infrastructure for maintaining the US government civilian and diplomatic presence and to support educational and cultural exchange programs to build bridges with civil society.
"We have USD 350 million in that part of the budget for FMF (Foreign Military Financing) programs, which is part of the five-year agreement that we have made with the government of Pakistan," a State Department official told reporters.
"So the unique part of the budget, the extraordinary part of the budget is the PCCF. The enduring part of the budget is more of our economic and military assistance that’s going to be sustainable over the long term," he said.
An OCO budget is of great help as we transition from military-led to civilian-led operations since it provides a mechanism through which we can view and budget for a transition to a more normal diplomatic presence in these countries when appropriate, the budgetary proposals said.
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