The United States has paused Pakistan’s foreign assistance for re-evaluation as per an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, an official at the US Consulate in Karachi recently confirmed to media.
Without mentioning any country, Tammy Bruce, spokesman for the US Department of State, has also issued a statement in this regard.
“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,” Bruce said.
“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 added.
This move has instantly stopped a number of important USAID projects in Pakistan, including the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) which is the flagship programme to promote cultural heritage preservation and protection.
According to the US embassy, this fund “helps protect historic buildings, archaeological sites, museum collections, and traditional cultural expressions like indigenous languages and crafts around the world.”
In other words, the AFCP demonstrates ‘the depth of US respect for the cultural heritage of Pakistan.’
Additionally, five projects related to the energy sector have also come to a halt as a result of this decision.
They 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.
Economic growth-related four projects are also hit. Among them, Social Protection Activity was the only programme supposed to end in 2025.
