India backs US aid plan for Pakistan

WASHINGTON: India has voiced understanding for the giant US aid plan for its rival Pakistan despite earlier security fears, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

“They believe we have a shared interest in helping to stabilise Pakistan,” said Robert Blake, the assistant secretary of state for South Asia.

“They’re certainly well aware that a spiral-down would not be in India’s interests,” he told a State Department blog forum.

The US last week held a “strategic dialogue” with India.

But the task was delicate as President Barack Obama has also put a focus on Pakistan.

The US last year approved a five-year, 7.5 billion-dollar plan to build the economy and democratic institutions in Pakistan.

Blake acknowledged that India had been less enthusiastic over US military support to Pakistan than the economic aid, but said: “I think they understand that we are trying to build up Pakistan’s counter-insurgency capabilities.”

The US has sought Pakistan’s “assurances that the weapons that are provided will not be used against India,” Blake said.

“The United States consistently emphasises... that it is very important in particular for Pakistan to take action against these groups that are targeting not only India but increasingly the United States,” Blake said.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 9^th, 2010.