- Updated January 15, 2026
Years Listed
Each shaded box corresponds to a year the country appeared on the CSPA list and what types of waivers it received, if any.
Pakistan appeared on the CSPA list in 2021. The U.S. president fully waived CSPA prohibitions against the provision of U.S. arms sales and military assistance to Pakistan, resulting in the provision of more than $2.6 million in arms sales and military assistance in FY2022. Specifically, the president waived over $94.7 million in Direct Commercial Sales and over $2.6 million in International Military Training and Education.
The Pakistani government was placed on the CSPA list following reports of the provision of material support to non-state armed groups that operated in Pakistan and Afghanistan and recruited and used child soldiers. Such militant groups kidnap, buy, recruit, and coerce children into their ranks and force them to spy, fight, and conduct suicide attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.1Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Pakistan,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2021, pp. 442, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/TIPR-GPA-upload-07222021.pdf (https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-trafficking-in-persons-report/). Though in 2019 the Pakistani military announced it would attempt to bring more than 30,000 religious schools under government control – some of which were used by non-state armed groups to forcibly recruit child soldiers – the government has not reported investigating, prosecuting, or convicting individuals for child soldiering offenses.2Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Pakistan,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2020, pp. 393, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020-TIP-Report-Complete-062420-FINAL.pdf (https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/).
Since 2021, U.S. presidents have been required to include justifications for CSPA waivers that were issued during the previous year in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. Pakistan’s 2021 waiver justification maintained that “[s]ecurity assistance to Pakistan subject to the CSPA restriction supports critical U.S. objectives of promoting regional stability and counterterrorism in South Asia” and “protects U.S. national security by helping maintain a system of end-use authorization monitoring and technical security for equipment, which the United States has already provided to Pakistan, such as F-16s and affiliated ammunitions.”3Government of the United States, U.S. Department of State. “Annual Report on the Use of Child Soldiers,” in Trafficking in Persons Report 2022, pp. 618, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/20221020-2022-TIP-Report.pdf.
For more information, see the U.S. State Department’s 2020 and 2024 Trafficking in Persons Reports and 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. More information on the situation in Pakistan can also be found in the UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict’s 2024 annual report.
Total Waived and Prohibited
Since the CSPA took effect.
Explore the Data
Country- and program-level data on the number and type of national interest waivers granted, as well as the amount of arms sales and military assistance waived.
