However, Berman said, and US military aid for Pakistan should be subject to certain conditions, which he claimed are not rigid or inflexible but only are meant to encourage Islamabad follow through its commitments.

The controversial requirements, proposed in the bill, drew sharp criticism from Republicans, with most of them supporting assistance for the South Asian ally but stressing that the proposed conditions amounted to micromanaging Pakistan. They particularly underlined that conditions should not be attached to the aid at a critical time for the country when it is intensely engaged to root out militants from its northwestern areas.

According to congressional sources, aid conditions proposed in the measure, will become effective in 2011 to allow Pakistan time to make changes. The requirements include determination on Pakistan’s anti-terrorism performance, its cooperation on the issue of non-proliferation and some other areas.

The bill supports $ 400 million each for five years for Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund.

A measure in the Senate “Kerry Lugar Bill” is expected to be taken up shortly and would allow $ 1.5 billion annually over five years.

The Senate measure, already passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urges accountability but does not call for including any rigid conditions.

The Obama Administration and Pakistan are supportive of the Kerry-Lugar initiative and are opposed to conditions being sought in the House bill called PEACE ACT.

After their passage in the two chambers, the differences between the two versions would be sorted out to present one reconciled bill to President Barack Obama for his assent.

The Pakistani diplomats, led by Ambassador Husain Haqqani and the Obama Administration, hope to address the issue of conditionalities to Pakistan aid in the days ahead.

“The bill provides funding to strengthen the capacity of Pakistan’s democratic institutions, including its parliament, judicial system and law enforcement agencies.

“To help ensure that U.S. assistance actually reaches the Pakistani people, it requires increased auditing, greater monitoring and better evaluation.”

“H.R. 1886 also provides critical security assistance to help the government of Pakistan in its fight against the extremists that threaten the national security of both Pakistan and the United States.”

“To strengthen civilian control of the military, H.R. 1886 requires that all assistance flow through Pakistan’s elected civilian government.

“And to support the Administration’s request for additional flexibility to address Pakistan’s urgent security needs, the bill authorizes funds for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund, or PCCF,” Berman said..

Joining in support of the bill, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee Democratic Ike Skelton called Pakistan a centerpiece of US national security interests in the region while Gary Ackerman, a New York Democrat and a persistent critic of Pakistan, also favored the bill.

Democratic leaders advocated the aid to Pakistan should be used effectively and accountably to the satisfaction of US taxpayers.  Republican from Florida Rep Ileana Ros-Lehtinen opposed attaching any conditions to the bill, saying the current Pakistani government should not be punished for flaws in the policies pursued by the former government.

The onerous conditions proposed in the bill will undercut U.S. policies, she said, and recalled that U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke noted recently that certain legislative conditionalities could prove counterproductive.

Any requirements for aid should not be based on past assessments and pre-conceived policies, she said.

Representative Dan Burton, a Republican from Indiana and co chair of Pakistani Congressional Caucus on the Capitol Hill, favored the focus on providing socio-economic assistance to Pakistan but strongly rejected the moves to include “ill conceived provisions to micromanage Pakistan.”

He pointed out that conditions would severely constrain the executive branch’s ability to conduct foreign policy.

“This is a difficult time, this is war and peace, this is winning or losing in Afghanistan,” he said, pleading against conditions.  Democratic Sheila Jackson Lee, co-chair of Pakistan Congressional caucus, opposed quarreling over minor differences and said more than two million people displaced in Pakistan need immediate US assistance and hence the bill should be passed to provide emergency aid to them.