Obama Proposes Over $1 Billion in Aid to Pakistan

Fresh off of President Obama boosting ties with India, Pakistan is hoping to shift into a closer alliance with Russia, seeing it as a natural source of alternate funding.

It’s been a natural move in South Asia. At the height of the Cold War, India was getting its money from the Soviets, and that was a big reason for the US wanting to bankroll Pakistan.

Still, the US is open to bankrolling everybody these days, even regional rivals, and President Obama has unveiled a proposal for over $1 billion in foreign aid to Pakistan, mostly centered around “anti-terror” aid, to prove it.

It’s not just anti-terror aid either. The straightforward military aid is going from $42 million in 2014 to $265 million under the new proposal, with officials arguing the money is needed for “stability and prosperity.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.