Washington, April 15 (Inditop.com) The Obama administration has asked the Congress to double its anti-terrorism budget to India to $4.5 million for the fiscal 2011 for higher-level training in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
The administration has also requested $1.2 billion for Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) for building the capability of Pakistan’s security forces directly engaged in counter-insurgency, a top counter-terrorism official told a Congressional panel Wednesday.
The decision to double anti-terrorism budget for India follows a request from New Delhi in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack, blamed on Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, that killed more than 166 people, including six Americans, State Department’s coordinator for counter-terrorism Daniel Benjamin said.
With the budget request for India’s anti-terrorism assistance (ATA), “bilateral budget would almost double, to $4.5 million, to meet the increasing political will on the part of the Indian government, which has requested more and higher-level training in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack,” he said
ATA continues to be America’s flagship counter-terrorism law enforcement capacity-building programme, and its partner nations have registered several concrete successes over the last year, Benjamin said.
Obama administration’s request for $1.2 billion PCCF will continue to be targeted at building the capability of Pakistan’s security forces directly engaged in counter-insurgency efforts in contested areas throughout the North West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, he said.
“A more capable Pakistani military will diminish extremist access to safe havens from which attacks on Pakistan and on US international forces operating in Afghanistan are planned and executed,” Benjamin said.
A better trained and equipped Pakistani security force will facilitate efforts to execute its $7.5 billion five-year US civilian assistance strategy, which includes efforts to improve basic government services in areas vulnerable to extremists, he said.
The management of PCCF will now see increased State Department oversight and involvement throughout the execution process to ensure that the assistance programme aligns with broader US policy objectives and complements its other foreign assistance programs in Pakistan and the broader region, he said.
“We are actively working to ensure that the transition of PCCF management from the defence department to the state department is a smooth one,” Benjamin said.
