‘US wants Pakistan to improve ties with neighbours’

WASHINGTON: The United States wants to promote good relations between Pakistan and its neighbouring states, particularly India and Afghanistan, says the State Department. At a briefing on the proposed budget for overseas US involvement in 2015, the State Department said that the administration would also use a special provision called Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) for promoting its interests in the Pak-Afghan region. “The OCO resources will support critical US activities such as sustaining close cooperation with Pakistan, ensuring the safety of Pakistani nuclear installations, working with Pakistan to facilitate the peace process in Afghanistan, and promoting improved relations with India,” the statement said. This will be separate from about a billion dollars earmarked for Pakistan. The 2015 budget will be the first after a planned US withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Briefing journalists on provisions for the Pak-Afghan region in the budget, the State Department made it clear that the United States will continue its engagements with both Pakistan and Afghanistan whether a security pact is signed or not. This is also reflected in the Pentagon's budget proposals, which include $79.4 billion in war funding even though most or all US troops are due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year. The proposed $496bn of defence spending that the Pentagon is seeking remains unchanged from this year's budget total.