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India slams U.S. sale of F-16s to Pakistan

India slams U.S. sale of F-16s to Pakistan

[World News] By HARBAKSH SINGH NANDA NEW DELHI, March 28 : The Indian government on Monday slammed the U.S. decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to neighboring Pakistan, saying the arms delivery was "ill-timed" and could affect the ongoing peace dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.

"The U.S. decision to supply F-16s to Pakistan at this point is inappropriate and ill-timed since the two countries are engaged in a composite dialogue on improving bilateral relations," India's Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters in Calcutta.

Mukherjee said that India understands that Washington needs to reward Islamabad for its help in fighting terror.F-16s, however, are not used for fighting terrorism, but rather for waging a full-fledged war.

"The previous track record had shown that Pakistan had not fired a single shot towards any other direction, but against India," the minister said.

New Delhi has already voiced its concern to U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Mukherjee said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had also spoken to President George W Bush on this issue.

The Indian official said that India would consider the U.S. offer to purchase military hardware, including F-18 jets, but New Delhi was in no mood to fuel an arms race in the nuclear-capable subcontinent.

Pakistan expressed surprise at India's reaction.

"The announcement is also a sign of the acknowledgement by the international community of the responsible role that Pakistan is playing in the promotion of regional and global peace and security," Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khursheed Mohammed Kasuri said in a statement."The proposed sale may be seen as a part of the broader framework of our bilateral relationship."Kasuri said that the purchase of F-16s must be seen in the context of the increase of India's Defense Budget in recent years.India has increased its defense allocations manifold during the past years.During 2000-2001 India increased its defense budget by 28 percent.Kasuri said that the increase in the Indian defense allocation is equal to Pakistan's entire defense budget.

India launched a dual diplomatic attack on Pakistan.While Mukherjee slammed the U.S. move, Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh flayed the international community for failing to keep a tight check on Pakistan for its alleged nuclear proliferation.

India has long criticized the United States for overlooking Pakistan's alleged involvement in spreading nuclear technology.Ahead of an international conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Singh said the world's leading nuclear powers had not been serious in its efforts to contain Pakistan."Unfortunately, even today, we see the same inconsistencies in approach with selective focus on the recipients of such clandestine proliferation but not enough attention on the sources of supply," BBC quoted Singh as saying.Pakistan's disgraced nuclear scientist, A.Q.Khan, is alleged to have supplied nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

Washington had announced over the weekend its decision to supply F-16 jets to Pakistan.The Bush administration also offered India combat planes, an offer New Delhi said it would consider.India has been offered to jointly produce at least six times the number of planes that would have been sold to Pakistan.

While India is disappointed at Pakistan getting the jet fleet, Islamabad is jubilant.

On Monday Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said, "This will make a strategic difference.This will tremendously increase our defense capability and the strategy of defensive deterrence."

Pakistan had been craving modern F-16 fighters to bring its military strength at par with India, but India had blocked the deal so far.In 1990 the U.S. Congress suspended a sale of about two-dozen F-16s to Pakistan because of Islamabad's nuclear program.

But all this seems to be changing now.

Rice, who earlier this month had denied F-16 sales to Pakistan, said America was looking to "solidify and extend relations" with both India and Pakistan at a time when Washington enjoyed good relations with both countries.

Rice told The Washington Post: "Pakistan has come a long way.It's on a better trajectory than it's ever been, or that it's been in many, many years."The decision to sell warplanes to Pakistan will form part of a five-year, $3 billion U.S. assistance program.Besides offering combat jets, the Bush administration also has offered a series of measures to upgrade the Indo-U.S. Strategic Partnership, which includes civilian nuclear energy and nuclear safety cooperation to India."The decision by the U.S. administration to move forward on nuclear energy cooperation is welcome and reflects an understanding of India's growing energy requirements," India's Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said the fighters would help the Pakistani air force maintain an effective deterrence level - but stressed Pakistan had no aggressive intentions towards any country.

Mike Nipper, a spokesman for Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin, told The Tribune daily that the manufacturer was in "desperate need" of orders for the F-16, failing which it would have been forced to close some of its operations, an action that would lead to the loss of a few thousand jobs.

Lockheed Martin has produced more than 4,000 F-16s in more than 110 different versions.The F-16 is one of the world's most sought-after multi-role fighters.Pakistan has hinted that it plans to buy about 70 F-16 jets from the United States.

The arms race has been fueled at a time when Musharraf is due to travel to New Delhi on April 16 to watch a cricket game between the two national sides.He is scheduled to hold meetings with top Indian officials, including Prime Minister Singh.

Both India and Pakistan have been involved in a series of confidence-building measures that have eased military tension between the two neighbors who have fought three wars over the last 57 years.


LINK: http://news.newkerala.com/india-news/?action=fullnews&id=91304