Washington: The State Department in the United States has denied Pakistan’s reports that the U.S. Congress had cleared 532 million dollars to Pakistan on the Kerry Lugar Act that needs certification on action against the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said here that no certification has been sought for funds to Pakistan, and no funds had been disbursed since 2013.
Secretary of State John Kerry has not issued any certificate to the Congress on the progress made by Pakistan in taking action against terrorist groups, Psaki stated further on Monday.
She said, it was way back in 2013 that the State Department had notified the Congress about disbursement of aid to Pakistan and for this the Secretary of State had used the national interest waiver and not the certification requirement.
Psaki, however, added that there are a number of ways under which the US provides financial aid to Pakistan.
She was responding to questions about reports that Kerry has issued a certification to Pakistan on its counter-terrorism measures ahead of his Islamabad visit next week.
Earlier in Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs had reacted strongly over the reported certification that cleared the aid to Pakistan. In an official statement, MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, India does not believe that Pakistan is making any significant effort or ceasing support or dismantling bases of operations of the Laskhar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Haqqani network and possibly the l-Qaeda.
The spokesman, however, said, it is entirely the prerogative of the US to decide how to spend its taxpayers money.
