‘US aid to Pak not being used against India’
Financial aid from the United States of America to Pakistan is not being diverted towards terrorist activities against India, claims Rodney W. Jones, president of Policy Architects International, a private national security consulting firm in Virginia.
Addressing journalists at the American Center, Marine Lines, on Tuesday, Jones said, “I don’t think US resources are being used for that [funding terror acts in India].” Instead, he said, donations from West Asia or Saudi Arabia, sent to India or Pakistan for charity, could be finding their way to terror groups.
“A lot of money is floating around in India and Pakistan to build mosques and madrassas. Unfortunately, this money could be a source. This is my best judgement.”
Jones, who was born in Mussourie, Uttarakhand, “during World War II,” said the Kerry-Luger Bill that seeks to provide Pakistan with non-military financial aid worth $1.5 billion annually over the next five years is aimed at strengthening Pakistan’s economy at the grassroots. “Military assistance may go up too but Pakistan pays cash for F16s. It’s not like we subsidise them,” said Jones.
Jones, who also speaks Hindi, said that terror groups turning against the Pakistani state will be like an extension of the Al Qaeda and could move outside Pakistan.
“We have seen [in the context of the 26/11 terror attacks] that they are also moving out of Kashmir and focusing on other parts of India.”