dr.umer
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07 December 2008
BRITAIN is to spend nearly £500m on schools and hospitals in Pakistan in a bid to quell the extremist forces blamed for the attacks in Mumbai last month.
Ministers will outline their plans in Glasgow this week to double the aid already given to Pakistan.
Much of the cash will be spent on improving education in the border areas of the country to tackle the near non-existent levels of schooling.
The sum was agreed well before the attacks on Mumbai last month, but the atrocity in India has served to focus more attention on the need to counter extremist influences in Pakistan.
Indian authorities believe the banned Pakistani-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba trained the gunmen and plotted the attacks, which left 171 people dead. Yesterday they announced that one of two people arrested for illegally buying mobile phone cards used by the gunmen in the attacks is a counter-insurgency police officer, who may have been on an undercover mission.
In total, the UK will spend £480m over the next three years in Pakistan, making it the second-biggest recipient of British aid after India.
The funds are expected to be focused in Pakistan's north-west territories bordering Afghanistan, long singled out by authorities as the lawless region where the Taliban and al-Qaeda have formed a base.
The plans will be outlined this week in Glasgow when ministers will consult the local Pakistani community to discuss ways of delivering the cash effectively.
International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said: "The single biggest factor holding Pakistan back is terrorism and religious extremism, and the best long-term solution is to create stability."
He added: "We see the support that we are offering as being a commitment to tackling poverty, supporting democratic reform and economic growth in the region."
