Washington: The United States State Department has said that key members of the Congress are not prepared to support military aid to Pakistan without some specific actions and that the Obama administration has to follow their decision.
"I will note key members of Congress have been clear they're not prepared to support US military aid to Pakistan absent some specific actions. I would direct you to Congress, those specific members, for anything further on their position. As always, we're committed to working with Congress to deliver security assistance to our partners and allies. It furthers US goals by building capacity to meet shared security challenges," said State Department spokesperson Elizabeth Trudeau on Thursday.
Trudeau also pointed out that the US administration also wanted Pakistan to act against the Haqqani network and has clearly conveyed its views to Islamabad on the activities of the Haqqani network.
"Pakistan has spoken that they will not discriminate against [militant] groups. We could encourage them to continue to live up to that," she added.
The remarks coincided with a debate in the Pakistani parliament where Advisor on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz admitted that relations with the US had been under stress for the past few months.
A US congressional panel had recently endorsed a move to block $450 million of military aid to Pakistan for failing to take action against the Haqqani network.
The US senators had last month stopped the administration from using foreign military financing for the subsidized sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan.
On being asked if Obama administration and Congress were on the same page on the matter, Trudeau made it clear that the administration on its own could not release the funds.
"We continue to work with Congress," she said.
