05-20-2007, 08:20 PM
<b>US security aid for Pak more useful in countering India: CSIS </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New York, May 20: Pakistan has received USD 1.8 billon as security assistance from the United States for the war against terrorism, but the weapons financed under it are "more useful in countering India" than fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban, according to a study.
In addition, Pakistan has got USD 5.6 billion from Washington over the last five years as reimbursements for fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda, the New York Times reported today quoting a research by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The security assistance mostly finances large weapons system and those weapons are more useful in countering India than fighting al-Qaeda or Taliban, Craig Cohen and Derek Chollet, the authors of the study, were quoted as saying by the paper.
The Centre's study was on roughly USD 10 billion sent to Pakistan by the United States since 2002.
<b>The United States has also provided about USD 1.6 billion for "budget support," which Pakistan can use broadly, including for reducing debt. </b>
In contrast, <b>only about USD 900 million have been dedicated to health, food aid, democracy promotion and education, in a country where illiteracy rates is about 50 per cent, and American policymakers say the education gap has opened the way for religious schools that can become hotbeds of extremism</b>, the Times reported.
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In addition, Pakistan has got USD 5.6 billion from Washington over the last five years as reimbursements for fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda, the New York Times reported today quoting a research by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
The security assistance mostly finances large weapons system and those weapons are more useful in countering India than fighting al-Qaeda or Taliban, Craig Cohen and Derek Chollet, the authors of the study, were quoted as saying by the paper.
The Centre's study was on roughly USD 10 billion sent to Pakistan by the United States since 2002.
<b>The United States has also provided about USD 1.6 billion for "budget support," which Pakistan can use broadly, including for reducing debt. </b>
In contrast, <b>only about USD 900 million have been dedicated to health, food aid, democracy promotion and education, in a country where illiteracy rates is about 50 per cent, and American policymakers say the education gap has opened the way for religious schools that can become hotbeds of extremism</b>, the Times reported.
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