US halts foreign aid to Pakistan following Trump's order: Report

Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

US has temporarily suspended all foreign assistance to Pakistan as part of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.

According to a report in Geo News, the move will bring to a halt a number of projects by United States Agency For International Development (USAID) projects in Pakistan, including the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), which is the flagship programme to promote cultural heritage preservation and protection.

The US embassy in Pakistan said that the AFCP fund "helps protect historic buildings, archaeological sites, museum collections, and traditional cultural expressions like indigenous languages and crafts around the world".

The halt in foreign aid is part of a sweeping order by Trump to stop all oversears spending, with the US State Department issuing a "stop-work" order last week for all existing foreign assistance.

An unnamed official at the US Consulate in Karachi told Geo News that US has paused Pakistan's foreign assistance for re-evaluation as per the order by Trump.

This has resulted five projects related to the energy sector coming to a halt. These include Power Sector Improvement Activity, Pakistan Private Sector Energy Activity, Energy Sector Advisory Services Project, Clean Energy Loan Portfolio Guarantee Program and Pakistan Climate Financing Activity, the report said.

It added that four projects for economic growth have also been affected.

The US decision also affects numerous projects in health, agriculture, food security, flood control, climate, and education, as well as Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance funds. There are concerns that some of these programs could be shelved permanently or significantly reduced, according to Geo News.

However, the exact value of the impacted projects remains unclear, as the current level of US aid to Pakistan is not specified.

Officials in Pakistan have yet to confirm the development or the full impact of Trump's executive measures on the suspension of assistance.

Last week, US had suspended its funding in Bangladesh as well.

This follows a statement by the US Department of State, which said: "Consistent with President Trump's Executive Order on Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid, Secretary Rubio has paused all US foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID) for review."

"As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, 'Every dollar we spend, every programme we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?'" he said.

(With inputs from agencies)