Demand accountability FROM PAKISTAN

The US Senate has approved the Department of Defence Authorization Bill, which says the US military assistance to Pakistan can only be used to fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban. The bipartisan amendment in this regard was introduced by senators Robert Menendez and Bob Corker amidst growing apprehension among lawmakers that the American taxpayers’ money given to Pakistan to fight against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda was being used to build up its army against India.

A delegation of the Members of Parliament of India that visited the United States had expressed concerns to the Obama Administration that Pakistan is using US aid to build a welloiled war machine for use against India. The bigger question however is can the Obama Administration really stop Pakistan from using US aid against India? The answer according to international think tanks specializing on South Asia and US-Pakistan relations is a categorical “no.”

What can India do in that case except raising the concern? That had little effect in the last fifty years. Pakistan has used US aid and military apparatus against India in every war since 1947.

Pakistan was seeking to link the Kashmir dispute with its US-sponsored war on terrorism on the plea that unless it was free from its security concerns on the Kashmir border with India, it would not be able to singularly focus its attention on dealing with Taliban terrorism on its borders and the forces tied up on its border in Kashmir limited its ability to commit more military in areas bordering Afghanistan.

The greater foothold extremists gain in Pakistan, the greater danger there is for U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The ultimate nightmare is that extremists gain control of Pakistan’s nuclear secrets or weapons.

If Pakistan continues to let the Taliban and Al-Qaeda continue their safe havens in their country then they should not be treated as a friend but as an enemy.

Pakistan’s government is notorious for promising benefits but failing to deliver.

Under President Obama’s Af-Pak policy Pakistan has been promised $1.5 billion worth of aid annually for the next five years to set up hospitals and schools and build roads.

The policy must necessarily have an inbuilt safeguard component to prevent the direct or indirect diversion of enormous US aid for potentially anti-India activities by Pakistan.

To this point, almost eight years and more than seven billion in American taxpayer dollars for Pakistan’s military have not prevented the Taliban and al-Qaida from regrouping along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

- Editor