Washington: The US will provide Pakistan with more military, intelligence and economic aid, even though top officials of the Obama administration feel that the country is not doing enough to crack down on terror havens in its tribal belt.
Vice-president Joseph Biden will deliver the message outlining the new aid package when he visits Pakistan next week, The 'Washington Post' reported today.
Biden's visit, the paper said, is considered significant as Washington feels frustrated over delay by Pakistan army in mounting operations in North Waziristan, the area which American security agencies feel is hotbed of
al-Qaeda, Taliban, Haqqani network and other radical Islamic groups confronting NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The vice-president, during his visit, is expected to meet the powerful Pakistan Ammy chief Gen Ashfaq Kayani and top government leaders.
"Biden will challenge the Pakistanis to articulate their long term strategy for the region and indicate exactly what assistance is needed for them to move against Taliban sanctuaries in areas bordering Afghanistan," the Post said.
US aid to Pakistan is projected to total more than USD 3 billion by 2011, though Islamabad had been complaining that Washington is slow on request for military equipments including helicopter gunships.
Washington Post did not outline what further US arms assistance to Pakistan would be. Besides, helicopter Americans have been supplying night fighting equipments as well as intelligence tools.
The decision to double down on Pakistan represents the administration's attempt to call the bluff of Pakistani officials who have long complained that the United States has failed to understand their security priorities or provide
adequate support.
The strategy, determined in last month's White House Afghanistan war review, amounts to an intensifying of existing efforts to overcome widespread suspicion and anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, and build trust and stability, the Post
said.
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