On Monday, 22 Republican Senators, including former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney introduced a bill in the US Senate that could have a negative influence on Pakistan.
The Afghanistan counterterrorism, oversight, and Accountability Act of 2021 calls for the application of sanctions against the Taliban and others who aid the terror group in Afghanistan. It mandates that the US Secretary of State submit a report to Congressional committees on Pakistan’s support for the Taliban within 180 days of the Act’s adoption.
It also gives the US President the authority to impose sanctions on any foreign individual who has provided support to a terrorist group in Afghanistan, committed major human rights violations in the war-torn county, or participated in narcotics trafficking. As a result of Pakistan’s nefarious role in the Afghanistan, the sanctions may be extended to Pakistan.
Sanctions will include property transactions being blocked, admission into the United States is denied, and existing visas being revoked. Aside from that, the plan asks for maintaining current Taliban sanctions and urging US partners to support the use of sanctions.