Senate triples US aid to $1.5 billion

SOURCE: DAWN.COM

The US Senate on Thursday approved a compromise legislation to triple non-military aid toPakistan,

President Barack Obama told an international summit inNew York.

‘How nice that the US president could announce it personally,’ US special envoy Richard Holbrooke later told a briefing while emphasising the importance of the announcement made at the Friends of Democratic Pakistan summit.

President Asif Ali Zardari also stressed the significance of Mr Obama’s gesture, telling the reporters that it reflected the confidence the international community had in the new democratic set-up in Pakistan.

‘We have come a long way. The democracy has completed a full circle,’ he said. We have a message for the extremists:

‘There’s no place for them in the civilized world.’

The president said that at the FODP summit, the entire world recognised that ‘our struggle against terrorism must be fought not just on the battlefield, but in education, in health, in jobs, in trade, and above all for the hearts and minds of our people.’

He added: ‘A stable, prosperous Pakistan is the world’s greatest hope against the spread of extremism and terrorism.’

He said that the elected government provided ‘political ownership to the war against extremism and terrorism’ and involved the entire nation in this fight.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who addressed a joint news conference with Mr Zardari after the summit, endorsed the Pakistani leader, reminding journalists that ‘leaders from more than 20 countries’ expressed their confidence in the new set-up in Islamabad.

Mr Holbrooke later explained how the Kerry-Lugar bill passed through the US Senate. ‘We worked all night to ensure that the bill is approved unanimously,’ he said, adding that some Republican lawmakers had reservations which were removed.

‘The entire room burst into spontaneous applause as President Obama announced the approval of the bill,’ said Mr Holbrooke.

‘I am not suggesting that one bill changes history but it is an important step,’ he said, noting that ‘it’s for the first time in the modern era that the US Congress made a multi-year commitment’ to another country.

The legislation, known as the Kerry-Lugar bill, will bring about $1.5 billion a year to Pakistanfor each of the next five years, as part of a plan to fight extremism with economic development.

The bill, approved on a voice vote, had been agreed between the Senate and House sponsors of legislation passed separately in each chamber earlier this year. It also had the ‘full support’ of key members of the Obama administration.

Mr Holbrooke said that chairman of the House Committee on International Relations had informed him that the House would take up the bill next week and it would soon be sent to President Obama who would then sign it into a law.

Supporters of the legislation — an updated version of a bill backed by President Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, when they were seNators — say the measure aims to banish any doubts that Washington has made a long-term commitment to helping Pakistan.

The measure, which seeks to use economic development to battle the despair that can fuel extremism, comes at a time when President Obama has vowed to overhaul US strategy for Afghanistan and neighbouring Pakistan.

More pledges were met at the summit where, according to the British prime minister, almost all participants agreed to increase the pledges they had made earlier.

At an earlier FODP meeting in Tokyo in April this years, a host of donor nations pledged almost $6 billion to Pakistan but the IMG confirmed on Tuesday that only ‘a fraction of those pledges have so far realised.’

Although almost 26 countries participated in the summit and some — the US, Britain, France, Japan, Canada and others — sent their presidents or prime ministers, Pakistan’s two key allies chose not to do so.

Both China and Saudi Arabia only sent their UN ambassadors, although their foreign ministers were in town.

‘Canada has a longstanding and important friendship with Pakistan,’ Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the summit. ‘This meeting was a valuable opportunity for leaders to show our commitment to working with the government and the people of Pakistan as they seek to build a more secure future.’

President Zardari, President Obama and Prime Minister Brown co-chaired this first leaders’ meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan. It was convened to demonstrate the international community’s continued support at the highest level for Pakistan’s civilian and democratically-elected government as it faces complex security, economic development and humanitarian crises.

The discussions centred on combating violent extremism, addressing energy shortages and fostering socio-economic development in Malakand and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. These have been the areas of focus of ministerial-level meetings of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan.

Prime Minister Brown, besides increasing Britain’s pledge to Pakistan, also announced a separate aid of 50 million pounds for the areas bordering Afghanistan.

The Friends of Democratic Pakistan first met in New York on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2008. The founding members include Pakistan,Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, theUnited Kingdom and the United States, as well as the United Nations and the European Union.

At the New York summit, the Asian Development Bank, which also participated in the meeting, agreed to set up a fund to help Pakistan overcome the energy crisis while the World Bank agreed to set up a separate fund for dealing with the economic crisis. The Pakistani government will make an integrated plan for dealing with the energy crisis, with the help of the ADB.

The participants vowed to support Islamabad’s political and strategic strategy for dealing with militancy.

They promised to enhance their support to Pakistan’s efforts to fight extremism.

They acknowledged Pakistan’s sacrifices in the war against extremists and ‘praised the brave armed forces of Pakistan,’ as Prime Minister Brown said.

They also recognised the recent operation in Swat and Malakand as a successful operation. They endorsed a plan presented before a ministerial meeting in Istanbul earlier this year.

The participants also agreed to strengthen Pakistani institutions, particularly in the tribal areas.

SOURCE: DAWN.COM