World
India
The United States has suspended all foreign assistance to Pakistan in the wake of an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, according to Geo News Tuesday report. It brought all several projects, crucial ones at that, which had been initiated and sponsored by USAID, to an abrupt end. That development had created some worry for the future of such projects in Pakistan.
The executive order, targeting a review and reconciliation of US spending in foreign countries, has also meant the immediate suspension of the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation— an iconic flagship program that focuses on the preservation of cultural heritage. The US Embassy in Pakistan already emphasized the importance of the program, revealing that the fund supports historic buildings, archaeological sites, museum collections, and traditional cultural expressions, including indigenous languages and crafts worldwide.
Wide-Range Impact on Key Sectors
The suspension of US aid has disrupted multiple projects across energy, economic growth, health, agriculture, food security, flood control, climate action, and education. Among the most severely affected are five energy sector projects, including:
- Power Sector Improvement Activity
- Pakistan Private Sector Energy Activity
- Energy Sector Advisory Services Project
- Clean Energy Loan Portfolio Guarantee Program
- Pakistan Climate Financing Activity
Four economic growth initiatives have also been put on hold. One of them, the Social Protection Activity, was supposed to run until 2025, raising concerns about the premature termination of long-term economic development plans.
The sudden loss of funding has brought alarm about the future of thousands of US-supported projects, among which are initiatives targeting *healthcare, livelihoods, education, and democratic governance*. A lot of those involved are fearful that some will be scrapped outright or downsized.
Despite the far-reaching effects of the suspension, the amount of aid impacted is unknown since the US level of assistance to Pakistan is not public information. To date, Pakistani officials have neither publicly acknowledged the move nor given an account of the effects of this policy change.
Freezing aid to Pakistan is part of a larger policy change initiated by President Trump’s administration in order to curb the expenses on foreign aid from the US. The State Department has issued a *\”stop-work\” order* on all its current foreign assistance programs, making this aid freeze cut across multiple nations, including Bangladesh. According to a statement by the US Department of State, the reasoning behind this action was as follows:
“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 USAID for review.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio clearly underlined the administration’s new approach to foreign aid, saying:
“Every dollar we spend, every program 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?”
This is the latest of a series of challenges in the complex and often turbulent relationship between the US and Pakistan. Although Washington has traditionally been one of Islamabad’s biggest development partners, the periodic suspension of aid has been a recurring feature of diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
