Washington (Agencies): The American Congress has approved payment of up to $700 million in Coalition Support Fund (CSF) to reimburse Pakistan against supporting US operations in Afghanistan with a few conditions.
The authorisation, coming at a time when the nuclear-armed allies are having sour relations, is part of the House and Senate versions of the 2018 National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA-2018), which was released on Thursday.
The reconciled version of the act makes $350m of $700m available to Pakistan under the CSF provided the secretary of defence James Mattis confirms Pakistan’s action against the Haqqani network.
The NDAA urged the defence department to keep an eye on Washington’s security assistance to Pakistan ensuring that the country did not use it to support militant groups.
According to the act, US administration would release the restricted amount of $350m if the secretary of defence certifies to the congressional committees that Pakistan continued to conduct military operations that were contributing to disrupting safe havens, fundraising and recruiting efforts, and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network and Lashkar-e-Taiba in Pakistan.
Mattis will also have to certify that Pakistan took steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani network and LeT from using Pakistani soil as a safe haven and for fundraising or recruiting efforts.
