WASHINGTON (National Times) Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu said on Tuesday that US President Joe Biden had requested $101 million aid for Pakistan for supporting democracy and human rights in the country.

Lu stated that the funds would be used to combat rising terrorism, support ongoing economic reforms and provide debt relief to the incumbent government.

He said this in a briefing about Pakistan and Afghanistan in the US House of Representative.

During the briefing,Lu expressed concern over the situation of women and minority groups in Afghanistan, stressing that relations with the Taliban government couldn’t normalise until protection of human rights of Afghan citizens.

It must be remembered that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan blamed Donald Lu for ousting his government in 2022.