WASHINGTON: To provide military assistance to Pakistan in the next fiscal year, the US administration will now have to certify to Congress that Islamabad is conducting military operations in North Waziristan.

Under the Carl Levin National Defence Authorisa­tion Act for fiscal year 2015, the US administration will also have to submit, twice a year, a report on security cooperation with Pakistan.

One provision restricts the US Secretary of Defence from waiving the certification requirements for releasing $300 million of the $900 million Coalition Support Fund.

The secretary, however, can only issue a waiver by certifying that “Pakistan has undertaken military operations in North Waziristan that have significantly disrupted the safe haven and freedom of movement of the Haqqani network.”

Under another provision, the Secretary of Defence, in consultation with the Sec­retary of State, is required to submit semi-annually a detailed report to the appropriate committees of Congress on the nature and extent of security cooperation between the two countries. The secretary is also required to make available to the intelligence committees a copy of this report.

The provision would limit the total amount of Coalition Support Fund that could be provided in fiscal year 2015 to $1.2 billion. Of this amount, the amount of CSF that could be provided to

Pakistan would be limited to $900 million. The provision would also extend for one year certain notification and certification requirements relating to CSF payments.

Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2014