A top US daily has been encouraged by the fact that Senator Barack. Obama has embraced a proposal by the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - the Democratic chairman, Joseph Biden, and the ranking Republican, Richard Lugar - to triple non-military aid to Pakistan to $7.5 billion over five years.
In its editorial of Thursday's issue, the New York Times also says the United States must invest more in building ties with Pakistan's people and strengthening its democracy. "Congress should move quickly to adopt the proposal, which also would require a long-overdue plan to address the lawlessness of the Afghan-Pakistan border," the newspaper says.