Senior U.S. officials commonly emphasize that the United States has vital interests at stake in U.S. engagement with Pakistan. These are related to regional and global terrorism; efforts to stabilize neighboring Afghanistan; nuclear weapons proliferation; Pakistan-India tensions and conflict; democratization and human rights protection; and economic development. As a haven for numerous Islamist extremist and terrorist groups, and with the world's fastest growing arsenal of nuclear weapons, Pakistan is at the top of many governments' international security agendas. Islamabad has been among the leading recipients of U.S. foreign assistance in the 21 st century, receiving more than $20 billion in overt transfers since 2001. Congress subsequently made existing conditions on aid both more rigorous and expanded them to include all forms, economic and military, alike. Status of U.S.-Pakistan Relations

The May 2011 revelation that Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden had enjoyed apparently years-long and undisturbed refuge inside Pakistan led to intensive U.S. government scrutiny of the bilateral relationship, and sparked much congressional questioning of the wisdom of providing significant U.S. foreign assistance to a government and nation that may not have the intention and/or capacity to be an effective U.S. partner. Long-held doubts about Islamabad's commitment to core U.S. interests deepened over the course of 2011, with U.S officials more often describing Pakistan's military and intelligence services as too willing to distinguish among Islamist extremist groups, maintaining links to Afghan insurgent and anti-India militant organizations operating from Pakistani territory as a means of promoting what Pakistan perceives to be its security interests. For January 2015's Strategic Dialogue session in Islamabad, Secretary of State John Kerry met with Pakistani Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to review progress in the existing five Working Group areas (economic and finance; defense; law enforcement and counterterrorism; security, strategic stability, and nonproliferation; and energy), and welcomed the creation of a sixth group—on education, science, and technology—set to meet later in 2015. President Barack Obama condemned the act of "depravity" and reiterated the U.S. commitment to support Pakistan in its counterterrorism efforts. A New Era for Pakistan-Afghanistan Relations? Nuclear Weapons Proliferation

The security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, materials, and technologies continues to be a top-tier U.S. concern, especially as Islamist militants have expanded their geographic influence there. Political Unrest in 2014. They are widely popular with the public. U.S. Foreign Assistance

Pakistan is among the leading recipients of U.S. foreign assistance in the post-9/11 period, with Congress appropriating more than $18 billion in such assistance for FY2002-FY2015, including $10.5 billion in economic, development, and humanitarian aid, and over $7.6 billion in security-related aid (see Figure 3 ). The Administration has requested $794 million for Pakistan aid for FY2016, representing a 10% decrease from the FY2015 request. Coalition Support Reimbursements . Are Pakistan's governmental and civil society institutions making effective efforts to combat the spread of religious extremism and militancy there? Has the U.S. sale and granting of major military supplies to Pakistan over the past 15 years substantively improved that country's counterterrorism capabilities?
Congress has taken keen interest in U.S. relations with Pakistan, especially as related to counterterrorism and U.S. foreign assistance. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 transformed U.S.-Pakistan relations virtually overnight. After more than a decade under broad U.S. sanctions for its nuclear proliferation activities, and later for a military coup, Pakistan became a key ally in U.S.-led efforts to combat Islamist militancy and extremism. Pakistan has been a leading recipient of U.S. assistance for nearly 15 years, having received more than $20 billion in economic, security, and humanitarian aid, and military reimbursements. The Administrations of President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama have sought close engagement with Pakistani leaders. Vital U.S. interests are seen to be at stake in this engagement related to
regional and global terrorism; efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and the broader region; nuclear weapons proliferation; links between Pakistan and indigenous American terrorism; Pakistan-India tensions and conflict; democratization and human rights protection; and economic development.
Pakistan is a haven for numerous Islamist extremist and terrorist groups, and successive Pakistani governments are widely believed to have tolerated and even supported some of these as proxies in Islamabad's historical tensions and conflicts with neighbors. The May 2011 revelation that Al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden had enjoyed years-long and relatively comfortable refuge inside Pakistan led to intensive U.S. government scrutiny of the bilateral relationship, and sparked much congressional questioning of the wisdom of providing significant U.S. foreign aid to a nation that may not have the intention and/or capacity to be an effective U.S. partner. Pakistan's security services are seen by many independent analysts to be too willing to make distinctions between what they consider to be "good" and "bad" Islamist extremist groups, maintaining supportive relations with Afghan insurgent and anti-India militant groups operating from Pakistani territory.
Although the U.S.-Pakistan relationship has partially recovered from the 2011 nadir, Congress has since imposed both broader and more rigorous conditions on the release of foreign assistance to Pakistan. Such conditionality now applies to all non-humanitarian transfers, including military reimbursements. For the past four years, the Administration has exercised authority granted by Congress to waive those conditions in the interests of national security.
In January 2015, Secretary of State John Kerry led a U.S. delegation for the 5th session of the bilateral U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue to review progress in the existing five Working Group areas (economic and finance; defense; law enforcement and counterterrorism; security, strategic stability, and nonproliferation; and energy). In April, the State Department approved the possible $952 million sale to Pakistan of U.S.-built attack helicopters and missiles, suggesting that the Administration intends to continue bolstering Pakistan's capacity to combat militants in its rugged and semi-autonomous western regions. See also CRS Report R43717, Pakistan Political Unrest: In Brief, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed], and CRS Report RL34248, Pakistan's Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues, by [author name scrubbed] and [author name scrubbed].