US allows Pakistan to resume military training after aid freeze

The US will allow Pakistan to rejoin a military training program suspended two years ago when President Donald Trump froze security aid to the country. Resuming the program, which represents only a part of the halted aid, is one sign of warming relations between Washington and Islamabad, AFP said.

Trump hosted Pakistani PM Imran Khan at the White House in July, and the US has several times welcomed Pakistani help in negotiations with the Afghan Taliban. In January 2018, prior to Khan’s election, Trump froze the assistance, saying Pakistan was not doing enough to target bases of the Afghan Taliban and its affiliated Haqqani group.

According to a US State Department spokesperson, the freeze “authorized narrow exceptions for programs that support vital US national security interests.” The US administration “has approved the resumption of the International Military Education and Training program for Pakistan as one such exception, subject to congressional approval,” the spokesperson said.

US officials have long accused Pakistani agencies of collaborating with Islamist radicals, but they cite progress over the past few months. Islamabad has denied such accusations.