Pak has not received ‘a single penny’ under Kerry Lugar bill so far: Qureshi

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has claimed that Islamabad has not received a ’single penny’ out of the 1.5 billion dollars promised under the Kerry Lugar bill, which was approved by the US Congress in September 2009.

Replying to a query during the question-hour session in the National Assembly (NA), Qureshi said Pakistan is yet to receive the first instalment of the Kerry Lugar aid.

“The US State Department and USAID Project would ensure the proper implementation of the Kerry-Lugar Act in Pakistan. The Federal Finance Ministry is following the Act while economic affairs division is also working with USAID to ensure its implementation on time,” Qureshi said, in his written reply to the house.

The United States, through the humanitarian aid bill, has pledged to provide 1.5 billion dollars over the next five years.

Both the Pakistani army and the political leadership had objected to some of the clauses of the bill, saying they would compromise the country’s security and integrity.

However, the Obama administration, in order to pacify Islamabad had attached a separate note to the bill, which clarified that Washington has no intentions to impinge upon Pakistan’s autonomy.

The US Congress, while attaching the memo had stressed that Washington has no intentions to micromanage Pakistani affairs, nor does it want to impinge its sovereignty and national security, nevertheless, the text of the added note explains that the Obama administration’s concerns over Pakistan’s covert support to terror groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and nuclear proliferation remain the same. (ANI)