The United States Congress has passed the National Defense Authorisation Act-2019 (NDAA-19) which capped its security-related aid to Pakistan to USD 150 million, significantly below the historic level of more than USD one billion to USD 750 million per year.
This year's defense legislation, however, removes certain conditions like action against Haqqani network or Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) -- as was the case in the past few years for disbursement of US aid to Pakistan.
The Senate passed the conference report on NDAA-19 by 87 to 10 votes yesterday afternoon. The House of Representatives had passed the conference report last week. It now heads to the White House for President Donald Trump's assent.
"The legislation reduces the total amount of funds provided for reimbursement to Pakistan to USD 150 million. This is a significant reduction from the USD 700 million that was authorised through Coalition Support Fund (CSF) last year," Anish Goel, who was part of Barack Obama's White House National Security Council, told PTI.
However, in doing so, the legislation gets rid of the certification requirements for Pakistan's action against the Haqqani Network and it also gets rid of the authority to reimburse Pakistan for counter-terrorism, he said.
"Hence, the Pentagon no longer has any tools to put pressure on Pakistan to undertake counter-terrorism activities or action against the Haqqani Network," Goel, who till recently was a senior staffer in the Senate Armed Services Committee, said.
Joshua White, who was also a part of Obama's White House National Security Council team and worked on Pakistan, said this year's defense legislation significantly reduces the amount of security assistance that Pakistan can theoretically receive outside of traditional Foreign Military Financing.
"It makes Pakistan ineligible for Coalition Support Funds (CSF), but adds Pakistan to a list of countries that can receive a related form of assistance designed to help partner nations bolster border security," White told PTI and observed, "This legislation is a mixed blessing for Pakistan."
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