U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Donald Lu on Tuesday said U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking $101 million in aid for Pakistan to support democracy and human rights in the country.
Addressing a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives summoned to discuss Washington’s budgeted allocations for South Asia, Lu—who PTI founder Imran Khan has accused of toppling his government—said the requested funding would be used to combat terrorism, support economic reforms, and provide debt relief. He stressed that this financial assistance would strive to stabilize Pakistan’s economy.
“That money would be used to strengthen democracy and civil society, to fight terrorism and violent extremism, and to support economic reforms and debt management to help stabilize Pakistan’s economy,” he said.
Overall, per the budget request, Washington is seeking $1.01 billion in foreign assistance for the South and Central Asia region to “compete with the People’s Republic of China, counter Russian and Chinese disinformation, and prevent terrorist groups from threatening the U.S. security.”
Commenting on Pakistan’s economic ties with China, Lu said the U.S. was seeking to prevent Islamabad’s “further overreliance” on Beijing. To a question on how the government hoped to achieve this, the State Department official said the U.S. would replace Chinese investments in Pakistan. “China is the past in terms of investment; we are the future,” he claimed.
During his briefing, Lu also expressed concern over the rights of women and minorities in Afghanistan, maintaining that ties with the Taliban government cannot be normalized until it ensures the rights of all Afghan citizens. He also reiterated a demand for the Afghan Taliban to release all Americans currently in their custody.