Trump administration gives major blow to Islamabad; suspends military training to Pakistani officers

Washington, August 11: Soon after Islamabad and Moscow signed an agreement to allow Pakistani troops to receive training at the Russian defence centres, the Trump administration suspended more than a decade-long military training programme of Pakistani personnel at the US institutions.

 

Notably, the Trump administration has denied providing funds to Pakistani students for the next academic year at the US military institutions for training. The suspension of the training became apparent when the US National Defence University (NDU) in Washington, which has had reserved seats for Pakistani officers for more than a decade, informed the outgoing Pakistani officers that the varsity has been asked to fill the positions for the next year with officers from other nations.

The NDU is one of several US military institutions that train officers from Pakistan. Pakistani officers have been receiving military training and education in the US since the early 1960s, which were suspended in the 1990s but restored after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Earlier, in this week, a bill to end all non-defence aid to Pakistan was introduced by Congressmen Mark Sanford from South Carolina and Thomas Massie from Kentucky in the US House of Representatives. The bill sought that the amount be redirect to infrastructure projects in the country rather than giving aid to Pakistan.

Importantly, the US has provided nearly 34 billion US dollars in aid to Pakistan, post 9/11, including 526 million in 2017 alone. Earlier, in January this year, hitting out at Islamabad and earlier government of United States, President Trump said that the US had been foolish to provide massive financial aid to Pakistan.