By APP
New York : The United States should fully support the new democratic Pakistan government, which is being formed by the victors of Feb. 18 elections, and present it with a “democracy dividend”, said a leading American senator. Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations, Sen. Joseph Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relation committee, said Washington must triple its non-military assistance to Pakistan and sustain it for a decade focusing on schools, roads and clinics.
Currently the United States gives Pakistan $500 million in non-military aid per year. Under Senator Biden’s proposal that figure would jump to $1.5 billion.
Senator Biden, who just returned from a trip to Pakistan, said the new aid should be designed to jump-start progress, help the country develop it’s northwest provinces and demand transparency and accountability in the military aid provided.
He also called for training Pakistani troops in counter-insurgency operations. “We don’t need to train the whole army—just one brigade would do.” He said Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the new army chief, was prepared to making changes in the forces’ training patterns.
“If we do all this, we can demonstrate to the people of Pakistan that our is a partnership of mutual conviction—not American convenience, that we care about their needs and progress not jut our interest,” he said.
Biden was accompanied on the trip to Pakistan by Senators Chick Hegal and John Kerry, who was Democratic presidential candidate in 2004.
In his speech, he also urged the United States to focus on securing and rebuilding Afghanistan because if it fails then neighbouring Pakistan could follow.
Biden said more troops are needed in Afghanistan and called for greater focus on basics like roads and power plus giving the military cash for quick projects like digging wells.
He also urged a rebuilding plan similar to the Marshall Plan under which the United States aided Europe’s shattered economies after World War Two.
“Afghanistan’s fate and Pakistan’s future are joined and America’s security is tied to both,” Biden told a distinguished audience of diplomats, scholars and officials. “If Afghanistan fails, Pakistan could follow, because extremists will set their sights on the bigger prize to the east.”
Frustration is rising among many ordinary people in Afghanistan over the perceived lack of development and security Western leaders promised before the Taliban were driven from power in 2001.
“We have spent on Afghanistan’s reconstruction in six years what we spend every three weeks on military operations in Iraq,” said Biden.
He said that if the United States makes Afghanistan its priority, then so will its allies.
“It seems time for NATO to realise that they must get fully in the fight. If Afghanistan falls, I am not sure how far behind NATO will be,” he said. “If America does more, so will our allies.”
Biden said Pakistan’s cooperation in the fight against extremism was also critical to the success of Afghanistan.