India Opposes Sale Of F-16s By US To Pak
New York, Oct. 22 (NNN) : Even though the US maintains that no sales of F-16s to Pakistan are being contemplated, India is voicing concern about reports of a renewed Pakistani effort to buy the fighter jets, The Washington Times says
“We are against introducing such advanced weaponry into South Asia,†an unnamed Indian government official was quoted saying. “They are not useful in the war on terror, and experience has shown that they could be used against India. They could spark a buildup or a weapons race in the region,†said the paper.
In September, the Pakistani press carried a statement by a Pakistani defence official saying the US had agreed to consider selling the nation F-16 fighter jets. Last week, Rear Admiral Craig McDonald, head of the office of the US defence representative in Pakistan, was quoted in press reports telling a Pentagon-organized conference on security cooperation that the Bush administration would go before Congress early next year to seek authorization for the sale.
“It’s a very long, involved process that will be taken up with our Congress,†he was quoted by a British news agency. Participants in a six-day US-India forum sponsored by the Aspen Institute and the Confederation of Indian Industry that ended Tuesday said they told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that such a sale, while manageable for the Indian military, would be taken badly by the Indian public, the newspaper said.
Rumsfeld did not comment on the prospects of the sale of the F-16s at the meeting on Monday, the participants said. But a retired senior Indian military officer said he understood the plan called for an initial sale of 18 planes, with another 62 aircraft to be sold later.
The State Department, however, bluntly refuted the idea on Tuesday. “There has been absolutely no decision taken anywhere, at any level of the US government, on the sale of F-16s to Pakistan,†a department official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, along with dozens of other issues relating to US-Pakistan relations, had been on the table for months, but nothing had changed.
“Everyone wants to know if the ball has moved. The ball has not moved,†the official said.
Washington sold 40 F-16s to Pakistan from 1983 through 1987, during the period Pakistan supported US in its efforts to drive the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. But in 1990, Congress passed legislation halting delivery of the jets for fear that Pakistan had built a nuclear bomb.
US concerns over a Pakistani nuclear device proved correct in May 1998 when Pakistan carried out nuclear weapons tests in response to tests by India. However, since September 11 attacks in the US, Pakistan has re-emerged as a key US ally in the war on terrorism.
http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=102104105823
"They are not useful in the war on terror, and experience has shown that they could be used against India" :xmas
New York, Oct. 22 (NNN) : Even though the US maintains that no sales of F-16s to Pakistan are being contemplated, India is voicing concern about reports of a renewed Pakistani effort to buy the fighter jets, The Washington Times says
“We are against introducing such advanced weaponry into South Asia,†an unnamed Indian government official was quoted saying. “They are not useful in the war on terror, and experience has shown that they could be used against India. They could spark a buildup or a weapons race in the region,†said the paper.
In September, the Pakistani press carried a statement by a Pakistani defence official saying the US had agreed to consider selling the nation F-16 fighter jets. Last week, Rear Admiral Craig McDonald, head of the office of the US defence representative in Pakistan, was quoted in press reports telling a Pentagon-organized conference on security cooperation that the Bush administration would go before Congress early next year to seek authorization for the sale.
“It’s a very long, involved process that will be taken up with our Congress,†he was quoted by a British news agency. Participants in a six-day US-India forum sponsored by the Aspen Institute and the Confederation of Indian Industry that ended Tuesday said they told Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that such a sale, while manageable for the Indian military, would be taken badly by the Indian public, the newspaper said.
Rumsfeld did not comment on the prospects of the sale of the F-16s at the meeting on Monday, the participants said. But a retired senior Indian military officer said he understood the plan called for an initial sale of 18 planes, with another 62 aircraft to be sold later.
The State Department, however, bluntly refuted the idea on Tuesday. “There has been absolutely no decision taken anywhere, at any level of the US government, on the sale of F-16s to Pakistan,†a department official said on the condition of anonymity.
The official said that the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, along with dozens of other issues relating to US-Pakistan relations, had been on the table for months, but nothing had changed.
“Everyone wants to know if the ball has moved. The ball has not moved,†the official said.
Washington sold 40 F-16s to Pakistan from 1983 through 1987, during the period Pakistan supported US in its efforts to drive the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan. But in 1990, Congress passed legislation halting delivery of the jets for fear that Pakistan had built a nuclear bomb.
US concerns over a Pakistani nuclear device proved correct in May 1998 when Pakistan carried out nuclear weapons tests in response to tests by India. However, since September 11 attacks in the US, Pakistan has re-emerged as a key US ally in the war on terrorism.
http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=102104105823
"They are not useful in the war on terror, and experience has shown that they could be used against India" :xmas
