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MISLEADING: US has stopped foreign aid for all countries, not just Pakistan
Several sections of the media reported that the United States has stopped all foreign aid to Pakistan which has affected key development projects.
This is MISLEADING. It gives the impression that the United States has stopped foreign aid for Pakistan after the President Donald Trump took office.
In fact, the US has stopped foreign assistance to all countries for re-evaluation as per an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
A leading media outlet reported with the headline, “US temporarily suspends aid to Pakistan, leading to impact on key growth sectors.”
It added the “Decision, taken after President Trump’s executive orders, aims to review whether aid allocation aligns with US foreign policy.”
What happened?
The United States, the world’s biggest donor, froze virtually all foreign aid and grants to countries around the world. The move is temporarily and will be reviewed after 90 days.
According to media reports, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent an internal memo,a days after President Donald Trump took office vowing a policy of tightly restricting assistance overseas.
“No new funds shall be obligated for new awards or extensions of existing awards until each proposed new award or extension has been reviewed and approved,” said the memo to staff.
The spokesperson for the US Department of State Tammy Bruce has also issued a statement in this regard and did not mention any country specifically.
“Consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary Rubio has paused all US foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for review,” Bruce said.
“As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, ‘Every dollar we spend, every programme we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?'” she added.
However, Pakistan is one of the countries affected by the temporary freeze. This move has instantly stopped a number of important USAID projects in Pakistan.
