WASHINGTON: The United States spent $113.3 million on key programmes and activities in Pakistan during 2018, says a US State Department report released on Friday.

The financial report for the fiscal year 2018 shows that between Oct 1, 2017 and Sept 30, 2018 the department spent $8.7 billion on its principal activities.

Within the total, $5bn supported ongoing programme operations and $3.7bn went towards the Worldwide Security Protection programme to strengthen security for diplomatic personnel and facilities.

Major elements of this funding included $958m to support operations of the US Mission in Iraq; $858.3m for activities in Afghanistan; $113.3m for key programmes and activities in Pakistan; and $1.1bn for supporting operations in other areas of unrest, including high threat, high risk posts.

The report notes that the department also appropriated $6.1bn for Foreign Military Funding (FMF), the majority of which is allocated to Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan and Iraq.

The department does not specify how much of it actually went to Pakistan but it does say that the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency supports Counter­insurgency Capability and Peacekeeping Operations programmes in the country.

The report also says that the department is comfortable with the Trump administration’s decision to reintegrate office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan into the bureau for South and Central Asian affairs and, therefore, has not set aside separate funds for it.

The report shows that the restrictions the Trump administration introduced on defence and security cooperation with Pakistan in January this year has drastically slashed US assistance to the country, which once was as high as a billion dollars a year.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2018