US' triple aid to Pak worries India

Washington, Sep 25: US Senate on Thursday, Sep 24 voted to triple non-military aid to Pakistan at $1.5 billion per annum till 2014, has triggered fresh concerns for India.

The announcement to the tripling of annual aid from $50 million to $1.5 billion was made by President Barack Obama during his address to a meeting of the 'Friends of Democratic Pakistan' at the UN headquarters in New York.

Obama's special Ambassador for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, called the unanimous vote on Kerry-Luger Bill "a very important step forward" for US-Pakistan ties.

Reacting to the Senate's passage of the bill, Foreign Minister S M Krishna said in New York that India was concerned about it as Islamabad had in the past diverted American aid to bolster its defences against India.

"Consider the statement that has been issued by the former president of Pakistan Musharraf himself where he has said that the aid provided to Pakistan by the US has been used for directing its hostile operations against India," Krishna, who is participating in the opening session of United Nation General Assembly, said.

"It is that statement of President Musharraf that really bothers us," he said.

OneIndia News