US to triple non-security aid to Pakistan in new strategy

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WASHINGTON, June 26 (AFP): The United States (US) is considering a new aid strategy for Pakistan that will triple unconditional non-security aid to US$ 1.5 billion annually but tie security funding to counterrorism performance, lawmakers said.

In coming weeks, bipartisan legislation will be introduced in the US Senate laying the foundation for the new approach, senior Democratic Senator Joseph Biden said Wednesday.

Biden, who chaired a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the new strategy, proposed that the central elements of the new plan include tripling non-security aid to $1.5 billion annually over a 10-year period.

"A significant increase in non-security aid, guaranteed for a long period, would help persuade the Pakistani populace that America is not a fair-weather friend but an all-weather friend; it would also help persuade Pakistan's leaders that America is a reliable ally," he said.

But Biden, in a controversial move, also wanted US security aid -- around one billion dollars annually at present -- to be tied to results.

This, he said, would "push the Pakistani military to finally crush" the Al-Qaeda and Taliban militant groups believed based along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"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," he said.