By IANS,
Islamabad: Pakistani senators Tuesday urged the government to withdraw from the Kerry Lugar bill that places conditionalities on the US aid to the country.
The senators said the government should withdraw from the bill as parliament as well as the public is not supportive of the agreement.
They said the politicians who stashed money in foreign bank accounts should bring it back to the country instead of accepting the US aid.
However, senators of the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) stressed that no country would extend assistance without conditionalities.
The bill provides unconditional non-military US assistance to Pakistan but imposes conditions for military aid.
The Pakistan Army said earlier the bill is not in line with the official position of the government. It said the bill compromises the country’s sovereignty.
Jamaat-e-Islami Senator Ibrahim said: “We have suffered loss of $35 billion in the war on terror in the last eight years. The US has provided only $15 billion (to Pakistan).”
“If our capitalists and politicians bring back their money stashed in foreign banks, several problems facing the country will stand resolved,” he added.
Senator Saeeda Iqbal said: “We have lost our confidence at international level. We should restore our confidence so that other countries could extend aid to us without any preconditions.”
“The mention made in the bill in regard to attack on Muridke and Quetta was not acceptable to us,” she added.
Senator Salim Saifullah said certain clauses of the bill had been incorporated at the desire of India.