Rejects Indian objection on $450m F-16 fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan
\nWASHINGTON
\nIndia and Pakistan are both partners of the US with different points of emphasis, the Biden administration said. This was stated by US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price during the State Department\u2019s press briefing.
\nHe was responding to a reporter\u2019s question regarding the comment made by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar asking the US to review its relations with Pakistan and criticized the Biden administration for authorizing $450 million for the F-16 program.
\nJaishankar had that said everybody knows where and against whom F-16 fighter jets are used. \u201cYou\u2019re not fooling anybody by saying these things,\u201d he said in response to a question during an interaction with Indian-Americans.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t view our relationship with Pakistan, and on the other hand, we don\u2019t view our relationship with India as in relation to one another. These are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each,\u201d Ned Price told reporters at his daily news briefing.
\n\u201cWe look to both as partners, because we do have in many cases shared values. We do have in many cases shared interests. And the relationship we have with India stands on its own. The relationship we have with Pakistan stands on its own,\u201d he said.
\nEarlier this month, the Biden administration approved a $450 million F-16 fighter jet fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan, reversing the decision of the previous Trump administration to suspend military aid to Islamabad for providing safe havens for the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network. \u201cWe also want to do everything we can to see to it that these neighbours have relations with one another that are as constructive as can be possible. So that\u2019s another point of emphasis,\u201d Price said in response to a question.
\nResponding to another question if Pakistan aided the Taliban in a way that allowed them to come into Kabul, Price said, \u201cit was not in Pakistan\u2019s interest to see instability and violence in Afghanistan. It is not in Pakistan\u2019s interest to see instability and violence in Afghanistan.\u201d
\n\u201cThe support for the people of Afghanistan is something we discuss regularly with our Pakistani partners; our efforts to improve the lives and livelihoods and humanitarian conditions of the Afghan people, and to see to it that the Taliban live up to the commitments that they have made,\u201d he added.
\nPakistan is implicated in many of these same commitments: the counterterrorism commitments, commitments to safe passage, commitments to the citizens of Afghanistan, Price said. \u201cThe unwillingness or the inability on the part of the Taliban to live up to these commitments would have significant implications for Pakistan as well. So, for that reason, we do share a number of interests with Pakistan regarding its neighbour,\u201d Price was quoted by media as having said.
\nThe United States, he noted, has been intently focused on the devastation that has resulted in the loss of life resulting from the torrential floods that have devastated large areas of Pakistan.
\n\u201cWe have provided tens of millions of dollars in relief for these floods. The Secretary today have additional details on further US assistance for the Pakistani people, in light of this humanitarian emergency that Pakistanis are facing,\u201d he added. =DNA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rejects Indian objection on $450m F-16 fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan WASHINGTON India and Pakistan are both partners of the US with different points of emphasis, the Biden administration said. This was stated by US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price during the State Department\u2019s press briefing. He was responding to a reporter\u2019s question regarding the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-286025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n