WASHINGTON (SW): The United States has indicated to Pakistan that further extension in the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) beyond 2015 may not be possible.
Under the CSF arrangement, the US reimbursed Pakistan for operations and maintenance costs incurred in direct support of its operations in Afghanistan. Since 2001, the US has reimbursed $13 billion to Pakistan, which is the largest recipient of the fund.
The issue about the future of CSF, according to a defense source, was discussed at the 23rd Defence Consultative Group Meeting (DCG)-Interim Progress Review (IPR) held at the defense ministry on Tuesday. Principal Deputy Secretary of Defense Ms Kelly Magsamen led the US delegation comprising officials of the defense and state departments, Dawn news reported.
The arrangement was supposed to end with the completion of the drawdown in December 2014, but the US government through legislation extended the program for another year. The extended program, which came with extra conditions, allowed reimbursement of up to $1bn.
Pakistan had in 2014 lobbied for conversion of the CSF into a ‘Stability Support Fund’ after changing some of its parameters. The US administration initially looked convinced about the proposal, but it couldn’t materialize due to Pakistan government’s failure to pursue the matter at the political level. Additionally, the source said, the US needed to realize that Daesh was also posing a serious threat to this region.
According to a defense ministry’s statement on the meeting, the US delegation agreed that Pakistan was a stabilizing factor in the region following the drawdown of coalition forces and was contributing to efforts for peace in the region.
It said the participants of the meeting were hopeful that “outstanding issues related to defence cooperation between USA and Pakistan” would soon be resolved. But the statement did not say what the outstanding issues were.
ENDS
