The US today said Pakistan is unlikely to get any of the $7 billion worth of excess military equipment in Afghanistan as American forces prepare for a drawdown from the war-torn country.
Military equipment that has been determined to be excess can be made available through the US's worldwide excess defence articles (EDA) programme, which is open to all eligible countries, including Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"This equipment will not be brought back with US forces from Afghanistan as they redeploy elsewhere," a statement released by the US Embassy here said.
It added that the US assists Pakistan through many security cooperation programmes to build partnership capacity.
Pakistan has requested a variety of Excess Defence Articles (EDA).
However, the statement said: "The US is currently reviewing Pakistan's request for EDA. If approved, this EDA is likely to be sourced from US stock outside Afghanistan." There were reports in Afghanistan that
Pentagon might give Pakistan some of the USD 7 billion worth of armoured vehicles and other equipment it needs to dispose off after the withdrawal of the US-led NATO forces by the end of this year.
On March 18, Afghanistan's 'Mashrano Jirga' expressed concern over a US decision to hand over its military equipment to Pakistan after taking them out from Afghanistan.
The Afghan Senate described the decision as a "breach of agreement in the war on terror and if the US is honest to its promises in the war on terror it should avoid giving weapons to a country which supports terrorism and is involved in shedding bloods of the Afghans, Americans and other nations".
A recent report by Washington Post had said the US and Pakistan were in talks over the equipment.
The American embassy statement said: "The Department of Defence manages the process for identifying recipients for excess defence articles with State Department approval." The decisions on who receives EDA are made on a case-by- case basis taking into consideration a range of factors, including the need of potential recipients, regional security dynamics, how the recipient nations intend to use the equipment and the ability of an EDA recipient to sustain the equipment, it said.
The statement added, "Final determinations of EDA are still being made."
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