A Major Blow to Pakistan
23/07/2017
In a major blow to Pakistan, the Trump administration will not provide USD 350 million in coalition support funds to Pakistan after the US Defence Secretary said he cannot certify that Islamabad has taken "sufficient actions" against the dreaded Haqqani terror network. Pakistan-based Haqqani network is blamed for a number of high-profile attacks on US and Western interests in war-torn Afghanistan. The terror group is also blamed for several deadly attacks against Indian interests in Afghanistan, including the 2008 bombing of the Indian mission in Kabul that killed 58 people. This is for the second consecutive year that the US Defence Secretary has refused to certify to Congress, as mandated under National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA), that Pakistan has taken satisfactory action against the Haqqani network. Mattis' predecessor Ashton Carter was the first US Defence Secretary to refuse that certification. As a result of the notification by Defence Secretary Mattis to Congress, the Department of Defence has reprogrammed remaining Coalition Support Funds, which is USD 350 million, to other accounts.
The Pentagon's decision came ahead of a review of US policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. As authorised by the US Congress in its NDAA, the Department of Defence reimbursed USD 550 of USD 900 million to Pakistan early this year.
The funds (USD 350 million) could not be released to the Government of Pakistan at this time because the secretary could not certify that Pakistan has taken sufficient action against the Haqqani Network as per the requirement in the FY 2016 NDAA. Pakistan has been reimbursed USD 550 million of the USD 900 million the country was authorized in FY16 CSF. With the Secretary's decision, there is no additional FY16 CSF available to Pakistan. As part of the regular Defence Department budgetary process, the FY16 CSF money allotted for Pakistan needed to be released or reprogrammed prior to the expiration of the funding.
However, the Taliban and the Haqqani Network continue to operate in other locations in Pakistan, Stump said, two days after the State Department in a report to the Congress had listed Pakistan as one of the countries having terrorist safe havens. Noting that Pakistan has been reimbursed USD 550 million in FY16 CSF, Stump said USD 300 million of FY2016 Coalition Support Funds were already rescinded as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017.
There is a similar certification requirement for Pakistan pertaining to USD 400 million of FY17 CSF. Pakistan still has time to take action against the Haqqani Network in order to influence the Secretary's certification decision in FY17.
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