ISLAMABAD, July 4: Official consultations on the $3bn aid package which US President George W. Bush announced for Pakistan last month at Camp David will not begin until September this year, a US official told Dawn here on Friday.

Quizzed about the aid package, the US embassy spokesman in Islamabad Terry White said negotiations between the two countries to draw up the agreement were likely to begin in September or November.

“The serious ground level work would start in early September when the bureaucracy on the administrative side and legal experts will put the nuts and bolts together,” he said.

However, he made it clear that the broad principles of the aid package that had been drawn up in consultation with all the relevant US agencies and departments would remain the same. The broad principles include the terms of the aid package and the areas that it will cover.

The three conditions linked to the aid package are: One, Pakistan continues to extend support on the issue of terrorism; two, it will not export nuclear technology to any other country; three, it will continue to move ahead on the road to democracy.

When asked if the aid package would be introduced in the Congress as a stand-alone bill, the spokesman said it would be part of a larger US federal budget bill for Financial Year (FY) 2005. The budget bill would be submitted to the Congress in January next year.

He pointed out that the aid package will not become official until the US president has actually presented it to the Congress, which is when it becomes legal.

Since the new fiscal year in the United States starts from October 1, the aid disbursement could technically start from October 2004, the US spokesman said.

The US federal budget for the FY2004 has already been decided and the next legislative cycle available is 2004, which is why the aid package for Pakistan would take effect in FY2005.

The US official was not sure about the budget line that the Pakistan aid package would fall under, saying it could either be part of the overall foreign assistance or the State Department operating funds.

“By November this year we should have some idea on which hook they hang the hat,” is how he put it.

A word of caution from him was that overall budget process was a lengthy and “super complex” procedure that involved a lot of internal politics. This is particularly pertinent as next year is an election year in the US where domestic point scoring on the budget may slow down the approval process.

Asked about the possible timeframe for the passage of the bill he said nothing could be said.

The exhaustive consultative process between the Congressional Committees, State department and Bush Administration officials, the lengthy budget procedures and internal politics could become delaying factors, he maintained.

A Pakistani diplomat who has served in Washington shared this view. Referring to the “complex web of legislative process” in the United States he predicted that it could be a long haul.

If the budget bill takes the normal course, which it has not for over two decades, it could be approved by May or June next year, Terry White said. However, he cited instances when the budget approval had gone well into the next fiscal year. “But I assure you that even if there is delay it would have nothing to do with Pakistan-US relations, it would be because of the domestic politics,” he said emphatically.

Analysts agree that if there are contentious issues, filibustering, vested interests, and opposition, they could all prolong the process.