Washington, Mar. 28: In the next US budget, the Obama administration will link military aid to Pakistan to the “performance of the government”, US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher has said.

“The down payment will be linked directly to the performance of the governments involved,” The News quoted Boucher, as saying.

Addressing a press conference on Friday, Boucher said the US would also keep a close eye on the 1.5 billion dollars a year aid to Pakistan, which is expected to go into developing the social and education sectors.

On unmanned drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas, Boucher said US is not pondering to extend military strikes in the areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.

“We understand that they don''t want American forces inside Pakistan. We''ll respect that, but at the same time we want to make sure we are supporting properly,” he noted.

The US is trying to put Afghanistan and Pakistan in a better position to fight terrorists, he said.

“Our goal is to make the effort necessary to help Afghanistan and Pakistan to solve problems and put them in the position where they can take care of their own countries,” he said.

Boucher said the US recognizes Pakistan’s efforts to combat terrorism, and would provide the country with military aid. (ANI)