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.”
