WASHINGTON: The United States has been steadily put off with Pakistan's continued support for resurgent militant groups, and its warming up to India. The US has cut off both, military and economic aid to the country in the recent past, a verdict of its growing frustration with the country's support of the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan.
US officials and analysts say that ties between the two countries have been dogged for almost more than a decade, but soured following the militant Islamic groups advancement in Afghan. South Asia expert with the Woodrow Wilson Center, Michael Kugelman said, "We're seeing a very definitive and very sharp reorienting of US policy in South Asia away from Afghanistan-Pakistan and more towards India." Officials said the long standing frustration with Pak's refusal to quit supporting the Taliban, especially within the US military and intelligence community, rides high on the Obama administration's desire to avoid new military involvement in Afghan.
Just last month, Obama announced that he would keep US troop levels in Afghanistan at 8,400 through the end of his administration, shelving plans to cut the force in half by year end. American aid to Pakistan, both civilian and military, is expected to total less than $1 billion in 2016, down from a recent peak of more than $3.5 billion in 2011, as per US government data.
Just earlier this month, secretary of defence Ash Carter refused to authorise $300 million in military reimbursements to Pakistan, citing the limited gains the country has made fighting the militant Haqqani network, based in the country's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.
In a stark illustration of the limits of US-Pakistan cooperation, the United States killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour in a drone strike in Pakistan's remote Baluchistan region in May, without informing Pakistan. Some US officials still warn of the dangers of allowing relations with Pakistan to deteriorate. In a July 26 opinion piece in the Financial Times, Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, argued that "the strategic imperative for improved relations between the US and Pakistan is clear - for the safety of American troops and the success of their mission in Afghanistan, for the stability of the region and for the national security of both Pakistan and the US"
A senior Pakistani defence official said the United States will continue to need Pakistan in the fight against terrorism. Authorities in Islamabad have long rejected accusations that Pakistan has provided support and sanctuary to militants operating in Afghanistan. "We have lost over a hundred billion dollars in fighting terrorism, which is more than anything they have given us," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. In any event, the official said, Pakistan can turn to other sources of aid, including China. Last year the two countries launched a plan for energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan worth $46 billion
