LONDON, Feb 7: Aid from the Obama administration to Pakistan should come without strings attached, Pakistan’s ambassador to the US said in an interview published on Saturday.

Husain Haqqani told the Financial Times that “assistance that is conditional is never good”.

His comments came after US Vice-President Joe Biden said on Friday the Obama administration would revive a plan to send 1.5 billion dollars of military aid to Pakistan.

The US reportedly wants to triple civilian aid but impose conditions to ensure military assistance to Pakistan goes towards fighting militants in Afghanistan, not building up defences against India.

“Assistance that is conditional is never good,” Mr Haqqani told the FT.

“Our advice has been that while we can always discuss what the Americans would prefer... (conditional aid) is not going to serve US or Pakistani interests.”

He pledged Pakistan would focus on fighting its ‘primary threat’, which he said currently came from “terrorism and not from our eastern neighbour”.

But he warned: “There is no bullet that has been invented that Pakistan can be given to shoot at the terrorists that cannot be used in case there is a war with India.”—AFP