WASHINGTON: The Kerry-Lugar bill contains ‘absolutely no requirement or desire’ for US oversight on promotions and other internal operations of the Pakistani military, says Senator John Kerry, one of the co-authors of the proposed legislation.

This was the second statement in less than a week from the senator who, as chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, played a key role in getting congressional approval for the bill.

Kerry worked hard with his colleagues in the House of Representatives to soften some of the harsh conditions proposed in the House version. The bill passed by the both chambers was a compromise version, which included some restrictions proposed in the House while others were watered down.

The Pakistani response to the bill, however, has hurt Pakistan’s supporters both in the House and the Senate.

Even Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, co-chair of the Pakistani Congressional Caucus, is astonished at the Pakistani reaction.

She believes that the bill was a ‘tribute to the resilience of the Pakistani people’ and extended a promise of long-term relationship between Pakistan and the United States.

The most stunning reaction, however, came from Congressman Gary Ackerman, who co-chairs the Indian caucus.

He said that he had no interest in a partnership with Pakistan which is characterised by ‘suspicion, resentment and political manipulation’.

Senator Kerry and Congressman Howard Berman, who chairs the House Committee for Foreign Affairs, are among the moderates. They have criticised Pakistan in the past but worked hard to triple US aid.

In a statement issued by his office, Congressman Berman claimed that the crisis over $7.5 billion in US aid to Pakistan was ‘manufactured’ for political reasons.

'Those seeking to undermine this partnership, to advance their own narrow partisan or institutional agendas, are doing a serious disservice to the people of the United States and of Pakistan,’ added Senator Kerry.

‘This is a created crisis, by people who either haven’t read the bill or don’t want to describe it accurately, and whose goal is either to destabilise the (Pakistani) government, or challenge some of the Pakistani military’s priorities,’ said Berman.

Berman, who co-authored the bill with Senator Kerry and Republican Richard Lugar, noted that on security matters the bill outlined a joint strategy with Pakistan.

He said members of Pakistan’s military had been familiar with provisions of the measure as it worked its way through the US House and Senate.

‘I’ve been in touch with them (the military) through this whole process,’ Berman told Reuters. ‘I’ve spoken with Gen Kayani, other people. It’s a common strategy,’ he said.
 
This joint strategy is ‘that we want to assist their efforts to take on the counter-insurgency, to disband terrorist groups within Pakistan, to protect their nuclear facilities from proliferation,’ he said.

In a separate statement, Senator Kerry noted that United States wanted ‘to transform its relationship with Pakistan into a deeper, broader, long-term strategic engagement with the people of Pakistan’.

The aid to Pakistan bill, he said, was designed to ‘help turn the page in our bilateral relationship by moving beyond a military relationship to one where the United States engages directly with the people of Pakistan as a true ally and friend’.
 
 Kerry, who is travelling to the region next week, noted that the disinformation that the US was seeking to manipulate transfers and promotions in the Pakistani military stemmed from an item to be included in one of the monitoring reports.

It requires the Secretary of State to describe the extent to which civilian authorities exercise control over the Pakistani military.

‘It does not require such control, nor does it place any restriction whatsoever on Pakistan.

This benchmark, like all benchmarks in the monitoring reports, is informational. It presents a data-point on which US policy-makers can base decisions,’ said the Senator.
 
The former US presidential candidate said the Kerry-Lugar bill should be seen for what it’s, ‘a true sign of US friendship to the people of Pakistan … the heart of this bill gives the people of Pakistan $7.5 billion over five years in non-military aid.’

The statement issued by his office then spelled out the amount for Pakistanis, pointing out that $7.5 billion was equal to 62,500 crore rupees in the Pakistani currency.