By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan
China has announced a $10m grant for Pakistan to rehabilitate the more than 1.5 million people displaced by conflict in its northwestern tribal belt.
The agreement was signed by China's envoy to Pakistan Sun Weidong and Pakistan’s Secretary for Economic Affairs Saleem Sethi at a ceremony in Islamabad on Wednesday.
The money supplements a $129m grant already approved by Beijing for social development in the isolated tribal region, which for more than a decade has been the focal point of clashes between the Pakistani security forces and militant groups, including the Taliban.
Speaking at the meeting, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar thanked China and said the return and rehabilitation of the displaced tribesmen was his government’s top priority.
In June 2014, Pakistan's army launched a full-scale onslaught to push the Taliban out of their stronghold in North Waziristan and it soon spread to neighboring Khyber Agency and other adjoining tribal areas.
