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US Congress slaps new curbs on Pak military aid

* New limits include tracking where US military hardware ends up, with warning that aid must not upset ‘balance of power in region’

WASHINGTON: US lawmakers on Thursday passed a giant Pentagon spending bill that sets tough new restrictions on military aid to Pakistan.

The US Senate voted 68-29 in favour of a $680 billion defence-spending bill for fiscal year 2010, which sailed through the House of Representatives by a 281-146 margin on October 8 and now goes to US President Barack Obama.

The new limits include efforts to track where US military hardware sent to Pakistan ends up, as well as a warning that the aid must not upset “the balance of power in the region” – a reference to tensions between Pakistan and India.

The measure’s chief authors, senators Robert Menendez and Bob Corker, praised Pakistan for its help in routing extremists but said they wanted to be sure US military aid went to fight the “war on terrorism”.

“That fight is important to our own national security, and we have to ensure that our support for it is not being squandered or diverted,” Menendez said

“The Pakistanis should be commended for working to eliminate the terrorist safe havens within their own borders and for their role in the broader war on violent extremism,” Corker said.

“This provision simply ensures that the American peoples’ tax dollars are being used for their intended purpose,” he said.

The military spending bill would impose new restrictions on how Pakistan gets reimbursed out of a $1.6 billion fund for logistical and military support of US-led efforts to battle the insurgents.

The measure requires that the US secretaries of state and defence certify “whether such reimbursement is consistent with the national security interest of the United States and will not adversely impact the balance of power in the region”.

The bill also says the Pentagon must certify that Islamabad is waging a “concerted” fight against Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other fighters before it can receive the massive package of aid to battle extremists on its soil.

It directs the Pentagon to track how Pakistan uses military hardware it receives in order “to prohibit the re-transfer of such defence articles and defence services without the consent of the United States”.

The legislation instructs the White House to send lawmakers a report every 180 days on progress toward long-term security and stability in the country.

The spending bill also calls for spending another $130 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in fiscal year 2010, which began October 1. afp

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