WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has proposed to Congress a total of $ 3.1 billion in the 2012 budget for US economic and security assistance and diplomatic operations in Pakistan, according to a senior American official.
The administration's spendings for Pakistan are broken up into two parts, the "enduring core part"-meaning long-term assistance programs-and the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO), an administration official said at a briefing on President Barack Obama's budget proposals for the fiscal year 2012, beginning October 1, 2011.
As part of the long-term economic and security assistance, President Obama is seeking $ 1.9 billion in the year 2012. The amount will also cover the cost of American aid operations and diplomatic presence.
Of the $ 1.9 billion, about $ 1.5 billion is annual money to be allocated under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman five-year aid measure.
It also includes $ 350 million in foreign military financing programmes, which is part of the five-year agreement between the two countries. Some USAID operating expenses are also included in that number.
Under the Kerry-Lugar-Berman initiative, the US spends money on a variety of programmes, including development of democracy and wide-ranging infrastructure projects to assist Pakistan's economic progress.
On the extraordinary (OCO) side of the budget, the administration has proposed $1.2 billion, which includes some money for the American operational expenditures, about $146 million.
Under the OCO, $ 1.1 billion is to be devoted to the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund, which is a programme that the two countries have worked jointly with the departments of Defence and the state.
The PCCF seeks to train Pakistani forces for a more effective fight against insurgents along country's western border with Afghanistan.
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