US military aid hold "directly tied" to Pak's visa refusal to US personnel: Pentagon

Washington, July 12(ANI): Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Colonel Dave Lapan has emphasized that the delayed US aid to Pakistan is 'a hold, not a halt,' and that the funds may be delivered if the two nations resolve certain issues.

Lapan told reporters the suspended 800-million-dollar assistance is a combination of military aid in the form of equipment, and reimbursement for Pakistani military operations under the US Coalition Support Funds program.

He said that the halted funds may be delivered if the two nations can resolve bilateral issues, including the number of visas Pakistan will allow for US service members serving as trainers, and proof of military operations for which the country seeks US reimbursement.

Equipment aid that the US is withholding is "directly tied to those decisions by the Pakistani military to curtail training and to not grant visas for some of the US personnel that we need to get in," Lapan said. "If those things change, then this aid will change as well."

Lapan said while the full list of delayed aid items is classified, it includes explosive ordnance disposal support and apparatus, small arms, ammunition, helicopter spare parts, radios and equipment to counter explosive devices.

Military items the United States provides as aid require accompanying US troops to assist in training Pakistani forces in their use, Lapan said, and without visas for the service members, the Pentagon will not allow the equipment to remain in or be sent to Pakistan.

"We don't provide one without the other," Lapan said. "That's been the case in the past, and that should be the case going forward."

It is too soon to tell whether Pakistan will change its policies in response to the delayed aid, the spokesman said.

"We are hopeful [they will], and that's why we continue to work with the Pakistanis, to work through this issue. I can't tell you today what's going to happen," Lapan said.

He said that trust between the two nations has been strained over the years and by recent events, adding that an agreement to resume aid would be "a matter of rebuilding that trust and going through this process." (ANI)