WASHINGTON: The United States will allow Pakistan to rejoin a military training program suspended two years ago when President Donald Trump froze security aid to the country.
Continuing the program, which represents only a part of the suspended aid, is one sign of bettering relations between Washington and Islamabad.
Trump hosted Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House in July, and the US has welcomed Pakistan several times to help in negotiations with the Afghan Taliban.
In January 2018, Trump froze the assistance, saying Pakistan was not doing sufficiently to target bases of the Afghan Taliban and its affiliated Haqqani group.
According to a US State Department spokesperson, the freeze “authorized narrow exceptions for programs that support vital US national security interests.”
The US administration has “approved the resumption of the International Military Education and Training (IMET) program for Pakistan as one such exception, subject to congressional approval,” the spokesperson said.
US officials are citing progress over the past few months in warming up to Pakistani agencies despite various accusations and differences.
