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India lobbying to block US aid: Pakistan
July 21, 2003 19:58 IST
Pakistan on Monday accused India of lobbying to block American aid to it.
"There is an active lobby at the US Congress that wants to block $3 billion aid package agreed to during the recent visit of President Pervez Musharraf," foreign office spokesperson Masood Khan said in Islamabad.
"The Indian leadership looked worried when the package was announced by President (George W) Bush," he said.
New Delhi should 'shun the policy of blocking every development in the United States and elsewhere that can benefit Pakistan', he added.
He pointed out that the resolution adopted by the US House of Representatives attaching conditions to the aid was not a helpful development.
"Pakistan is working closely with the United States to abort this move," he said.
He also welcomed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's decision to come to Pakistan in connection with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation summit in January 2004.
The decision should have been made much earlier so that the SAARC meeting could have been held as per the original schedule, he added.