Will the carrot of US aid be withdrawn?

Although US allied with a military government, it struggled to make Pakistan help it win ‘fight against...

American policymakers are currently considering placing much tighter restrictions on existing American aid to Pakistan. The reason why this generosity towards Pakistan is shrivelling has less to do with the actual need for aid in Pakistan and more to do with US displeasure that its aid is not achieving its underlying objectives.

US foreign aid serves as a powerful tool to entice developing countries to do its bidding. Pakistan has been a significant recipient of American military and development aid over the years, especially in times of strategic need. But we have also experienced the withdrawal symptoms of US assistance being abruptly halted when our decision-makers dared to defy Washington.

Consider, for instance, its generosity towards Pakistan during the proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, when Pakistan’s support to the US proved invaluable. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, however, Pakistan was no longer a vital ally, so it did not pain Washington much to slap sanctions when Pakistan decided to go nuclear in reaction to developments in India.

The usefulness of Pakistan did not re-emerge until the US decision to invade Afghanistan in the post-9/11 context. This time around, however, circumstances have been much more complex. Although the US administration had no problems allying itself to another military government, it has since been struggling hard to make Pakistan help it effectively win the ‘fight against terrorism’.

The nuclear proliferation controversy, the subsequent political chaos, the increasing violence, the resentment over US drone strokes and the deteriorating economic conditions across Pakistan have hardly made things easy — and neither did the Raymond Davis incident or the May 2 raid in Abbottabad. Consequently, US lawmakers decided to hold off a third of $2 billion in security aid in a show of displeasure over lingering bilateral irritants, including the more immediate Pakistani decision to cut back permission to accept military trainers and place limits on visas for other US personnel.

Washington tried to assure Islamabad that the pause in military aid would not affect its economic support to the country. But local analysts were quick to point out that Pakistan’s economy will be hit if the US does not reimburse funds already spent on several operations on the Afghan border. Not releasing these payments, which were meant to go to the general treasury, would therefore further strain the country’s finances.

(Read: Suspension of US military assistance)

Moreover, the Republicans in the Congress are now pushing for a bill aiming to undercut the very spirit of the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act of 2009. The Democrats seem reluctant to place more restrictions on military and development aid to Pakistan. They rightly fear that disrupting aid to Pakistan would hinder the fight against terrorism and complicate the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. What is instead needed is for both the US and our own decision-makers to ensure effective use of the incoming aid, particularly the funds allocated for development purposes.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th,  2011.