US military aid linked to “conditionalities” not in either country’s interest: Haqqani

US military aid linked to “conditionalities” not in either country’s interest: HaqqaniLondon, Feb.7: The United States’ military aid to Pakistan should not be dependant on “conditionalities”, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani has said.

Haqqani said the aid being provided to Pakistan by Washington should not be accompanied by any terms and conditions.

"Assistance that is conditional is never good,” The News quoted Haqqani, as telling a UK newspaper.

Haqqani’s comment comes a day after the US Vice President Joe Biden announced that the new Obama administration is planning to send 1.5 billion dollars (1.2 billion euros) of military aid to Pakistan.

Reports suggest that US would also impose conditions to ensure that the military assistance to Pakistan goes towards fighting insurgents in Afghanistan, and not towards building up defences against India.

Haqqani stressed that the conditional help would not benefit either of the two countries.

“Our advice has been that while we can always discuss what the Americans would prefer, conditional aid is not going to serve US or Pakistani interests,” he said.

Reiterating Pakistan’s firm stand on tackling the menace of terror, he said the country is facing a turbulent situation due to terrorism, and not because of India.

“Pakistan is focussing on fighting its ‘primary threat’, which comes from ‘terrorism’ and not from our eastern neighbour,” Haqqani added. (ANI)

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