A bill to triple non-military US aid to Pakistan by $1.5 billion was unanimously approved by a key Congressional committee, which stopped short of imposing strict accountability conditions but added amendments to ensure that the assistance was not misused and focused on defeating the Taliban.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the ‘Pakistan Enduring Assistance and Cooperation Act of 2009’ (PEACE Act), already approved by the House of Representatives, proposing $ 1.5 billion per annum to Islamabad for the next five years by 16-0.

Unlike the House, it stopped short of imposing conditions on Pakistan with regard to action against Taliban and al-Qaeda, leaving it to the Obama administration to take a call on this. However, amendment to the original text of the Kerry-Lugar bill, accepted by the Senate Committee during its Markup Hearing, said: “US security assistance earmarked for Pakistan should be focused on counterinsurgency capabilities to defeat the Taliban insurgency and deny sanctuary to al-Qaeda and other extremists.”

The amendment in this regard was moved by Senator Tom Casey. He moved three amendments which were accepted by the Committee. Senator Casey’s counterinsurgency amendment declares that the primary objective of security-related assistance to Pakistan should be to defeat the Taliban-backed insurgency. But unlike the House version of the Bill, it does not impose conditions on Pakistan in this regard.

His amendments also specify the need to facilitate political and legal reforms in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan as one of the “uses of funds” spelled out in the legislation.