State and USAID: Core Budget

The United States seeks to foster economic and political stability in Pakistan through sustained assistance, which directly supports the core U.S. national security objective to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaida, as well as to deny safe haven to it and its affiliates in the region. Despite recent challenges in the relationship, the United States and Pakistan must continue to identify shared interests and cooperate on joint actions that will help achieve these objectives. Maintaining robust civilian assistance to a democratic Pakistan and its population will contribute to a more stable, tolerant, and prosperous Pakistan, which over the long-term will make both the United States and the region safer. Security assistance will continue to build the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism capabilities of Pakistan’s security forces, and remains critical to enabling security in the tribal areas and achieving progress on mutual security objectives. Security assistance is closely calibrated and evaluated to ensure it is in line with shared objectives and based upon Pakistan’s cooperation.

Through civilian assistance, the United States will cooperate with Pakistan to strengthen the capacity of the democratic government to serve its citizens, including by rehabilitating critical infrastructure, stabilizing key areas contested by militants, and fostering private sector-led economic growth. The U.S. civilian assistance program focuses on five priority areas: increasing the capacity and efficiency of the power sector to help Pakistan address the energy gap that undermines its stability and growth; fostering private sector growth that will provide economic opportunities to Pakistan’s growing population; supporting stabilization efforts across sectors and in regions susceptible to activity by violent extremists; and facilitating greater access to and increasing the quality of education and health care. Improving governance, transparency, and gender equality remain themes that cut across all sectors.

Civilian assistance is coordinated closely with Pakistan and implemented through Pakistani institutions, when appropriate, to maximize sustainability and impact. At the same time, rigorous accountability mechanisms have been put in place to ensure the funds are used for the purposes intended. The U.S. Government works closely with Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance, which is the locus of assistance coordination for the Government of Pakistan (GOP). GOP interlocutors still express the need for U.S. and other donor assistance, including in support of Pakistan’s nationally-endorsed growth strategy. The United States also remains focused on increasing trade, investment, and market access for Pakistan regionally and internationally, with the long-term mutual goal of helping Pakistan move beyond international assistance.

The primary focus of security assistance is building the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism capabilities of Pakistan’s security forces, as well as strengthening military-to-military cooperation and addressing the long-term military modernization needs of the Pakistan military. The majority of security assistance to Pakistan is funded in the Department of State’s Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) budget through the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF), which is detailed in the OCO section of the Congressional Budget Justification. Complementary civilian assistance supports Pakistan’s efforts to counter violent extremism. This is heavily, but not exclusively focused in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on the border with Afghanistan. This assistance is used to work with Pakistan to improve civilian governance, provide civilian law enforcement, and build the infrastructure and economic opportunity to drive the transformation of the region.

Overseas Contingency Operations

The United States and Pakistan have vital strategic interests that converge in the fight against terrorism. Militants operating from within Pakistan’s western border region threaten the safety and security of the United States, Pakistan, and the South and Central Asia region. Recognizing the fundamental connection between the war effort in Afghanistan and extremists’ safe havens in Pakistan, the United States has sought to broaden cooperation with the Government of Pakistan, including its military and law enforcement agencies, to improve coordination on counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts. The United States is working with Pakistan to ensure that U.S. and Pakistan security force efforts weaken the insurgency and compel militants to consider alternatives to armed resistance. Security assistance is closely calibrated and evaluated to ensure it is in line with shared objectives and based upon Pakistan’s cooperation.

The Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) is designed to provide immediate and flexible assistance to develop the counterinsurgency and counterterrorism capabilities of Pakistan’s security forces crucial to this effort. This assistance is intended to improve the ability of Pakistan’s security forces to conduct successful COIN operations by providing them greater access to information; enabling them to better coordinate with their headquarters and de-conflict activities with other units in the field; and allowing them to out-maneuver insurgents in the mountainous border regions, particularly during night operations. PCCF also provides combat medical equipment that prevents unnecessary loss of life from wounds that could otherwise be prevented through improved medical support. Security forces with increased capabilities will be able to more effectively protect civilian lives in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province from insurgent violence and facilitate Pakistan’s efforts to improve political and economic stability by increasing the space for basic government services in areas vulnerable to extremists.

Since PCCF began in FY 2009, Pakistan has made some progress against extremist safe havens, taking action against terrorist safe havens and working to disrupt al-Qaeda and some affiliated extremist groups by conducting military operations in five of the seven agencies of the FATA. In 2011, operations continued in Mohmand and Orakzai agencies, with limited activities throughout the rest of the border region. To support operations, Pakistan continues to deploy approximately 145,000-150,000 Army and Frontier Corps troops to the border region. Efforts to eradicate militant networks have come at a great cost: Pakistan has endured thousands of casualties among their civilian population from terrorist attacks. Within their military ranks, nearly 3,000 troops have been killed and 10,000 wounded since combat operations began in 2009. (Source: Congressional Budget Justification FY 2013)