White House warns Congress on aid restrictions to Pak. to hurt bilateral ties

The White House has warned Congress that its effort to restrict U S military assistance to Pakistan would hurt bilateral ties between the two nations and unnecessarily complicate progress.

The White House in a policy statement sent to Congress on Tuesday said that it appreciated the lawmakers' concerns about the Haqqani network, but disagreed with their move to restrict aid which could complicate ties.

The House Armed Services Committee earlier this month endorsed a draft bill that seeks to block $450 million in aid to Islamabad for failing to take action against Afghanistan's militant Haqqani network.

The panel through an amendment to the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for 2017, approved $900m for Pakistan from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) but half of it could only be released if the Secretary of Defence certifies that Islamabad continues to conduct operations against the Haqqani network.

"The Administration objects to section 1212 (of the bill), which would make $450m of CSF to Pakistan ineligible for the Secretary of Defence's waiver authority unless the Secretary provides a certification to the Congressional defence committees," the Dawn quoted the White House as saying.

"We share the committee's concerns regarding the threat posed to our forces and interests in Afghanistan by the Haqqani network, and we continue to engage with Pakistan at the highest levels regarding the need for concerted action specifically against the group," the White House said.

It however, stressed that the restriction in section 1212 would, "unnecessarily complicates progress in our bilateral relationship on this issue and would limit the Secretary of Defence's ability to act in the US national security interest."

In the amended section it is also required the defence secretary to certify that Pakistan is demonstrating commitment to preventing the Haqqani network from using North Waziristan as a safe haven and coordinating with Afghanistan to restrict the movement of terrorists, including those belonging to the Haqqani network.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the US Congress, is likely to vote on the bill later this week.