$1.5bn annual aid for a decade suggested

By Our Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Nov 8: Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Joseph R. Biden, urged the United States on Thursday to triple non-security aid to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for at least a decade.

“This aid would be unconditioned … instead of funding military hardware, it would build schools, clinics, and roads,” he said.

The senator also suggested that the US “must condition” security assistance to Pakistan on performance. “The US is now spending well over $1 billion annually, and it’s not clear we’re getting our money’s worth,” he added.

Senator Biden also proposed a “democracy dividend” for Pakistan, adding that the first year of democratic rule should bring an additional $1 billion – above the $1.5 billion non-security aid baseline.

Senetor Biden suggested tying future non-security aid – above the guaranteed baseline – to Pakistan’s progress in developing democratic institutions and meeting good-governance norms.

“The US must engage the Pakistani people, not just their rulers. This will involve everything from improved public diplomacy and educational exchanges to high impact projects that actually change people’s lives,” the senator said.

Chairman of the Senate committee warned that if President Musharraf does not restore his nation to the democratic path, US military aid to Pakistan will be in “great jeopardy.”

The senator said that after speaking to President Musharraf on Tuesday, he was convinced that the general “understands the consequences for his country and for relations with the United States if he does not return Pakistan to the path of democracy.”

In a statement issued by his office, Senator Biden noted that “President Musharraf (has) staged a coup against his own government” and urged the US administration to engage “pro-actively” with the general to reverse the state of emergency.

Senator Biden argued that Pakistan has a strong moderate majority, and if that majority was denied a voice in the system and free and fair elections, “it could be forced to make common cause with fundamentalists, as the Shah’s opponents did in Iran three decades ago”. “It is hard to imagine a greater nightmare for America than the world’s second-largest Muslim nation becoming a failed state in fundamentalist hands, with an arsenal of nuclear weapons and a population larger than those of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and North Korea combined,” he warned.

“To prevent that nightmare from becoming a reality, I believe we need to do three things. First, deal pro-actively with the current crisis. Second, and for the longer term, move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy that gives the moderate majority a chance to succeed. And third, help create conditions in the region that maximise the chances of success, and minimise the prospects for failure,” he said.

Senator Biden also noted that the relationship between the US and Pakistan was largely transactional — and this transaction was not working for either party.

“We must move beyond this transaction relationship – the exchange of aid for services – to the normal, functional relationship we enjoy with all of our other military allies and friendly nations,” he said.

“We’ve got to move from a policy concentrated on one man – President Musharraf – to a policy centred on an entire people, the people of Pakistan,” said Senator Biden.



Dawn 09/Nov/07