United Stated President Donald Trump on Friday authorised the resumption of the International Military Education and Training Program (IMET) for Pakistan in order to strengthen military to military cooperation between the two countries and advance US national security.
In a post on Twitter, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells said, “To strengthen military to military cooperation on shared priorities and advance US national security, President Donald Trump authorised the resumption of International Military Education and Training for Pakistan. The overall security assistance suspension for Pakistan remains in effect.”
Last month the Trump administration had given the approval for the resumption of Pakistan’s participation in a coveted US military training and educational programme more than a year after it was suspended.
According to the US State Department the decision to resume Islamabad’s participation in IMET — for more than a decade a pillar of US-Pakistani military ties — underscored the warming relations that have followed meetings this year between President Trump and Prime Minister Imran Khan.
A State Department spokeswoman had said in an email that Trump’s 2018 decision to suspend security assistance authorised “narrow exceptions for programmes that support vital US national security interests.” The decision to restore Pakistani participation in IMET was “one such exception,” she said.
The programme “provides an opportunity to increase bilateral cooperation between our countries on shared priorities,” she added. “We want to continue to build on this foundation through concrete actions that advance regional security and stability.”
Pakistan’s suspension from the programme in August 2018 prompted the cancellation of 66 slots set aside that year for Pakistani military officers in one of the first known impacts of Trump’s decision to halt security assistance.
The US military traditionally has sought to shield such educational programmes from political tensions, arguing that the ties built by bringing foreign military officers to the United States pay long-term dividends.
— With additional information from Reuters
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