Pakistain on Thursday angrily criticised US moves to freeze $700 million in aid, the latest sign of the fraying alliance that has been in deep crisis since NATO...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
fire killed 24 Pak soldiers.
"We believe that the move in the US Congress is not based on facts and takes narrow vision of overall situation hence wrong conclusions are unavoidable," foreign ministry front man Abdul Basit told news hounds.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the legislation, which the Senate is expected to vote on as early as Thursday.
The bill would freeze the aid, pending assurances that Islamabad has taken steps to thwart Death Eaters who use improvised bombs (IEDs) against US-led forces in Afghanistan.
"If this legislation becomes law, we'll work with the government of Pakistain on how we can fulfill the requirements. But, this requires us to maintain a strategic perspective," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Pakistain shut down the vital US supply line into neighbouring Afghanistan and ordered US personnel to leave the Shamsi air base, reportedly used as a hub by CIA drones, after attacks killed 24 soldiers on November 26.
Pakistain says it is reviewing terms of engagements with the United States and NATO, but parliament has so far stopped short of announcing any specific measures pending a joint session for which no date has been called.
A parliamentary committee is considering a proposal to scrap tax exemptions on NATO goods shipped to Pakistain and trucked to the Afghan border.
The powerful military, anyway, is considered the final arbiter of policy.
It has bolstered its air defence systems on the Afghan border, where officials say 160,000 troops are deployed.
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta
...current SecDef, previously Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Panetta served as President Bill Clinton's White House Chief of Staff from 1994 to 1997 and was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1993....
visited American troops in Afghanistan close to the Pak border on Wednesday, calling on Islamabad to secure its side of the border, by cracking down on Taliban havens on its territory.
"I think the real question has to be what has been done on the Afghan side of the border," Abdul Basit told news hounds.
"Pakistain cannot be held responsible for weaknesses and loopholes on the other side of the border," he added.