The US House of Representatives has approved a defence bill that requires the military to handle suspected militants allied with al-Qaeda. The bill would place a pre-emptive freeze on up to 700 million US dollars in aid to Pakistan until Congress gets assurances from the US Secretary of Defense that Islamabad is helping fight the spread of home-made bombs.
Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman, Abdul Basit, says the bill is based on a "narrow vision of the overall situation" and hence prone to miscalculations.
Abdul Basit, spokesman for Pakistan Foreign Ministry said: "We believe that the move in Congress is not based on facts and takes a narrow vision of the overall situation. Hence wrong conclusions are unavoidable. Meanwhile, as you all know, we are presently in the process of reviewing our terms of engagement with the US, NATO and ISAF in their entirety, and the issue of sovereignty -- let me emphasize -- that the issue of Pakistan's sovereignty is non-negotiable."