ISLAMABAD: The United States said on Wednesday it would continue its security assistance to Pakistan in order to keep bilateral relations on “solid footing”.
The commitment was conveyed by US Central Command (Centcom) Commander Gen Lloyd J. Austin III to his Pakistani interlocutors ahead of next week’s Defence Resourcing Conference (DRC). The DRC is a follow-up mechanism to the annual Pak-US Defence Consultative Group (DCG) meeting to discuss defence cooperation.
During his stay in Pakistan, Gen Austin met Defence Secretary retired Lt Gen Asif Yasin Malik, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Gen Rashad Mahmood, and Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif and discussed “wide range of common security issues”.
The Centcom commander was quoted by the defence ministry as having told the defence secretary that “continued support in training, education and Coalition Support Fund (CSF) will act as tools necessary to keep relations on solid footing”.
Issues of continuation of the CSF after the 2014 drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan, provision of military hardware to Pakistan, the share Pakistan is expected to get from the equipment left over in Afghanistan and other aspects of defence and security cooperation are being discussed in the DCG and would be followed up in the DRC.
At the ministerial meeting of the Strategic Dialogue last month the two countries committed to “pursue a forward-looking, transparent, and politically sustainable defence relationship in areas of mutual interest”.
According to the US Embassy, in his meetings Gen Austin “reaffirmed the importance of the US-Pakistani security relationship to regional stability and agreed to continue to work together in order to build a stronger partnership and further common objectives”.
He told the defence secretary that US viewed Pakistan as a “vital partner for regional security” and praised Pakistan’s role in facilitating the drawdown of US and Isaf forces from Afghanistan.