Committee seeks report on presence of US military trainers in Pakistan

Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs seeks detailed report on number of US military trainers in Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs has sought a detailed report from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the number of United States (US) military trainers in Pakistan, Express 24/7 reported on Friday.

The committee met in Islamabad with chairman Saleem Saifullah Khan heading the meeting and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir in attendance.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, Saifullah said the committee had questioned why a large number of American military trainers had been issued Pakistani visas.

The committee has also asked the Foreign Ministry to name the person responsible for approving such a large number of visas.

Hina Rabbani noted that only $500 million of the $800 million US military aid was allotted for American military trainers in Pakistan. She expressed hope that the remaining $300 million dollars aid would be released by the US soon.

Earlier this month, the US cancelled $800 million in aid and equipment to Pakistan which is more than one-third of the $2 billion it gives to Pakistan for security assistance as per the congressional bill approved by the two countries in 2009.

The cut-off came as a response to Pakistan’s expulsion of US military trainers as US officials claimed that the act made Washington ‘unhappy’.

Pakistan shut down a US program that had been training paramilitary forces, sending home more than 100 US trainers, and had threatened to close the base the CIA has been using for drone plane attacks on militant targets.