Americas

Home page

Americas

U.S. will continue civilian aid to Pakistan

15 July 2011 00:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. A senior U.S. government official on Thursday ensured Pakistan that U.S. civilian aid to the country will continue despite the slow down in military aid, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides spoke by telephone with Pakistani Minister of Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, and the two discussed the "importance of continuing cooperation on the U.S. - Pakistan civilian assistance program", Toner said at a regular briefing.

He said Nides reiterated that the United States remains committed to providing civilian aid to Pakistan to "fuel economic growth and to improve its energy, education and health sectors."

"It’s important to note that while there is this slowdown on the security and military side, our civilian assistance continues, " he said.

Toner said the U.S. has disbursed about two billion U.S. dollars in civilian assistance to Pakistan, which includes over 550 million dollars in emergency humanitarian assistance.

Reports said that the Obama administration will suspend about 800 million U.S. dollars in military aid to Pakistan, in order to pressure Pakistan’s military to intensify crackdown on the militants.