HAIDER
ELITE MEMBER
- Joined
- May 21, 2006
- Messages
- 33,771
- Reaction score
- 14
- Country
- Location
NEW DELHI: India and US may have forged an expansive bilateral strategic-defence relationship but the huge amount of American military aid being given to Pakistan in the name of "global war on terrorism'' has become a big bone of contention.
New Delhi wants Washington to closely monitor its military assistance to Islamabad since a major chunk of it is being surreptiously diverted to bolster Pakistan's conventional military and nuclear capabilities against India. But the US continues to waffle, banking more upon Pakistan's "good faith'' rather than anything concrete.
Defence minister A K Antony on Friday made it quite clear to visiting US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen that India was upset that the military aid to Pakistan was "disproportionate'' to what was required to fight terror.
Antony, in fact, expressed "serious concern'' that the weapon systems being supplied to Pakistan might be "misused'' against India. "The minister told Admiral Mullen the US needs to establish a strong monitoring mechanism to ensure that such a thing does not happen,'' said a top official.
The US, after all, is giving spanking new F-16 fighters, with advanced all-weather and precision-strike capabilities, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, with advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, and a wide array of offensive capabilities like Block-II Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, TOW-2A anti-tank guided missiles and the like to Pakistan.
All these weapon systems and platforms are clearly meant more for conventional wars, not counter-terrorism, unless the Taliban or LeT have quitely acquired warships, fighters and tanks and stashed them in their hideouts without the world noticing.
But US remains adamant the military aid to Pakistan, which has gone well past $10 billion, is not directed against India. Admiral Mullen said the weapon systems supplied to Pakistan were "specifically'' meant for use against terrorism. This, he said, had been strongly conveyed to Pakistan, even as he side-stepped questions on the monitoring mechanism proposed by India.
"We certainly understand the concerns raised by India. At the same time, I don't believe we have sold anything to Pakistan which will greatly imbalance the region,'' he said.
But if there is a big disconnect between India and US on this issue, there is a convergence of views on the secretive ISI's nefarious links with the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terror outfits.
"I believe the overall strategic approach of ISI needs to fundamentally change. It's an extraordinarily difficult task and it's going to take time,'' said Admiral Mullen, candidly admitting the US government "did not know a lot about'' ISI.
The senior-most US military official, however, said the arms supplies to Pakistan were "reflective'' of the "growing relationship and trust'' being re-established between the two countries, which was earlier derailed in the 1990s.
Antony tells US to monitor arms supply to Pakistan - India - The Times of India
New Delhi wants Washington to closely monitor its military assistance to Islamabad since a major chunk of it is being surreptiously diverted to bolster Pakistan's conventional military and nuclear capabilities against India. But the US continues to waffle, banking more upon Pakistan's "good faith'' rather than anything concrete.
Defence minister A K Antony on Friday made it quite clear to visiting US chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen that India was upset that the military aid to Pakistan was "disproportionate'' to what was required to fight terror.
Antony, in fact, expressed "serious concern'' that the weapon systems being supplied to Pakistan might be "misused'' against India. "The minister told Admiral Mullen the US needs to establish a strong monitoring mechanism to ensure that such a thing does not happen,'' said a top official.
The US, after all, is giving spanking new F-16 fighters, with advanced all-weather and precision-strike capabilities, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft, with advanced anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, and a wide array of offensive capabilities like Block-II Harpoon anti-ship missiles, AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, TOW-2A anti-tank guided missiles and the like to Pakistan.
All these weapon systems and platforms are clearly meant more for conventional wars, not counter-terrorism, unless the Taliban or LeT have quitely acquired warships, fighters and tanks and stashed them in their hideouts without the world noticing.
But US remains adamant the military aid to Pakistan, which has gone well past $10 billion, is not directed against India. Admiral Mullen said the weapon systems supplied to Pakistan were "specifically'' meant for use against terrorism. This, he said, had been strongly conveyed to Pakistan, even as he side-stepped questions on the monitoring mechanism proposed by India.
"We certainly understand the concerns raised by India. At the same time, I don't believe we have sold anything to Pakistan which will greatly imbalance the region,'' he said.
But if there is a big disconnect between India and US on this issue, there is a convergence of views on the secretive ISI's nefarious links with the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terror outfits.
"I believe the overall strategic approach of ISI needs to fundamentally change. It's an extraordinarily difficult task and it's going to take time,'' said Admiral Mullen, candidly admitting the US government "did not know a lot about'' ISI.
The senior-most US military official, however, said the arms supplies to Pakistan were "reflective'' of the "growing relationship and trust'' being re-established between the two countries, which was earlier derailed in the 1990s.
Antony tells US to monitor arms supply to Pakistan - India - The Times of India
.
