India, May 10 -- As the tensions escalated between New Delhi and Islamabad, the Pakistan government said that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) executive board has approved the immediate disbursement of about $1 billion to the Islamic nation under the ongoing Extended Fund Faci-li-ty.

The move, which comes after India's strong protest that the funds could be misused, allows for an "immediate disbursement of around $1 billion, bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to about $2.1 billion".

"Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expresses satisfaction over the approval of a $1 billion tranche by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Pakistan," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

India had opposed ...