Washington: The Pentagon says suspension of $300 million in planned aid to Pakistan was not a new decision.

The move earlier this summer reflects the Trump administration’s dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s commitment to assisting the U.S. strategy for pressuring the Taliban, whose leaders use Pakistan as a ‘sanctuary’.

A day before an expected meeting with the new Pakistani government, the Pentagon dispelled the impression that the United States had cancelled its assistance to Pakistan, Pakistan daily the Dawn reported.

In a statement on Monday, Pentagon spokesperson Lt Col Koné Faulkner explained that the suspension of security assistance to Pakistan was announced in January 2018 and on Saturday the Pentagon asked Congress to ‘reprogramme’ a suspended amount of about $300 million that Pakistan was to receive from the Coalition Support Fund (CSF).