WASHINGTON — Senior lawmakers sought Tuesday to soothe anger in Pakistan over a proposed multibillion-dollar aid package, saying they would provide assurances that the United States has no intention of interfering with Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who co-sponsored the aid package, said lawmakers would prepare an explanatory statement to accompany the bill, which has language that some in Pakistan see as outside interference with their government.
The statement would “set the record absolutely straight” and correct misinterpretations about the bill, Kerry told reporters after meeting with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
“The bill doesn’t have to be changed. If there is a misinterpretation, it just has to be clarified,” Kerry said.
A statement would not alter the bill, which has already been approved by Congress and must still be signed into law by President Barack Obama. Any changes would have to be voted on by the House and the Senate.
Rep. Howard Berman of California, the Democratic chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said before his meeting Tuesday with Qureshi that the statement would explain what the bill does and what it does not do. The bill, he said, is meant to help Pakistan’s people, not dictate what the country should do.
In Pakistan, meanwhile, jets softened up militant targets along the Afghan border Tuesday ahead of what the government promises will be a ground offensive into the Taliban’s main stronghold, authorities said.
The government’s resolve to send large numbers of troops on a risky operation into mountainous South Waziristan has deepened after a week of attacks around the country along with ominous signs that different militant groups are now working in tandem.
The U.S. has been encouraging Pakistan to take strong action against insurgents who are using its soil as a base for attacks in Afghanistan.
