WASHINGTON: The US State Department has said that it’s aware of reports stating that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had proposed a $3 million budget allocation for Darul Uloom Haqqania seminary.

“I would refer you to the KP government or the government of Pakistan with any questions concerning this funding,” said the department’s spokesman John Kirby when asked to comment on those reports.

When a journalist reminded him that it was the same seminary that the US government also had funded in the early 1980s, Mr Kirby said: “I’m going to let my statement stand.”

Asked for comments on Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz’s recent statement that the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was one of the reasons for straining Washington’s relations with Islamabad, Mr Kirby said he was not going to detail diplomatic conversations.

“Look, there are enormous challenges in the region. We continue to work with Pakistan to try to address those challenges. I don’t have anything more additional for you,” he added.

Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2016