WASHINTON
\nUS State Secretary Antony Blinken on Tuesday defended military sales to Pakistan after criticism from growing US partner India, which considers itself the target of Islamabad\u2019s F-16 planes.
\nBlinken met in the US capital with India\u2019s foreign minister a day after separate talks with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
\nThe US-Pakistan alliance, born out of the Cold War, has frayed over Islamabad\u2019s relationship with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
\nThe top US diplomat defended a $45 million F-16 deals for Pakistan approved earlier in September, saying the package was for the maintenance of Pakistan\u2019s existing fleet.
\nThe package does not include the sale of any new capabilities, weapons, or munitions and is aimed at the sustenance of Pakistan Air Force\u2019s F-16 programme.
\n\u201cThese are not new planes, new systems, new weapons. It\u2019s sustaining what they have,\u201d the US state secretary told a news conference with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
\n\u201cPakistan\u2019s programme bolsters its capability to deal with terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan or from the region. It\u2019s in no one\u2019s interests that those threats be able to go forward with impunity, and so this capability that Pakistan has had can benefit all of us in dealing with terrorism,\u201d Blinken said.
\nHe added that the US had a \u201cresponsibility and an obligation to whomever we provide military equipment to make sure that it\u2019s maintained and sustained. That\u2019s our obligation\u201d.
\nWhen asked to elaborate on the terrorism threats and the need for F-16s to counter them, Blinken said: \u201cThere are clear terrorism threats that continue to emanate from Pakistan itself as well as from neighbouring countries.
\n\u201cAnd whether it is TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan) that may be targeting Pakistan, whether it\u2019s ISIS-Khorasan, whether it\u2019s Al-Qaeda, I think the threats are clear, well-known, and we all have an interest in making sure that we have the means to deal with them. And that\u2019s what this is about.\u201d
\nTo another question about his discussion with FM Bilawal on improving ties between Pakistan and India, his advice to Pakistan in this regard and the latter\u2019s response, Blinken said it would not be appropriate to \u201ccharacterise Pakistan\u2019s response\u201d.
\n\u201cMore broadly, we always encourage our friends to resolve their differences through diplomacy, through dialogue. That hasn\u2019t changed. It won\u2019t change. It would not be appropriate for me to characterise Pakistan\u2019s response, just as I wouldn\u2019t characterise our friend\u2019s response in a similar conversation,\u201d he said.
\nJaishankar did not criticise Blinken in public but on Sunday, speaking at a reception for the Indian community in the United States, he said of the US position, \u201cYou\u2019re not fooling anybody.\u201d
\n\u201cFor someone to say, I\u2019m doing this because it\u2019s for counter-terrorism when you\u2019re talking of an aircraft like the capability of the F-16, everybody knows where they are deployed,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cVery honestly, it\u2019s a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving American interests well,\u201d he said.
\nPreviously, the Indian defence minister had also conveyed reservations over the F-16 deal with his counterpart in Washington.
\n\u201cI conveyed India\u2019s concern at the recent US decision to provide a sustenance package for Pakistans F-16 fleet,\u201d Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had written on Twitter following what he called a \u201cwarm and productive\u201d telephone conversation with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
\nFor its part, Pakistan has strongly urged India to refrain from commenting on the bilateral ties between the United States and Pakistan.
\nResponding to Jaishankar\u2019s remarks from Sunday, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said in a statement that Pakistan had a \u201clongstanding and broad-based relationship\u201d with the US, which had been vital in promoting peace, security, and stability in the region.
\nThe spokesperson called for India to \u201crespect basic norms of inter-state relations\u201d.
\n\u201cIndia also needs serious introspection of its diplomatic conduct,\u201d he added.
\nMeanwhile, Bilawal also commented on India\u2019s reaction to the military sale package during an address at a Washington-based think tank, Woodrow Wilson Centre.
\n\u201cObviously, Indians are going to be upset, let them be, \u2018kiyan karein\u2019 (what do we do),\u201d he said.
\nSeparately, in a weekly briefing on Monday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price while answering a question on Jaishankar\u2019s comments said that the US didn\u2019t view its relationship with Pakistan and India as in relation to one another.
\n\u201cThese are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each, and we look to both as partners because we do have in many cases shared values, we do have in many cases shared interests.\u201d
\nEarlier this month, a press release by the US Defence Secu\u00acrity Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said the government of Pakistan had requested to consolidate prior F-16 sustainment and support cases to support the Pakistan Air Force F-16 fleet by reducing duplicate case activities and adding additional continued support elements.
\nThe follow-on support for Pakistan\u2019s F-16 fleet would include participation in F-16 Aircraft Structural Integrity Programme; Electronic Combat International Security Assistance Programme; International Engine Management Programme; and Engine Component Improvement Programme, and other technical coordination groups, the press release added.
\nThe support would also include aircraft and engine hardware and software modifications and support; aircraft and engine spare repair\/return parts; accessories and support equipment; classified and unclassified software and software support; publications, manuals, and technical documentation; precision measurement, calibration, lab equipment, and technical support services; studies and surveys; and other related elements of aircraft maintenance and programme support.
\nSeparately, a notification sent by the DSCA to US Congress said: \u201cThis proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.
\n\u201cThe proposed sale will continue the sustainment of Pakistan\u2019s F-16 fleet, which greatly improves Pakistan\u2019s ability to support counterterrorism operations through its robust air-to-ground capability. Pakistan will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces.\u201d
\nThe principal contractor for this sale will be Lockheed Martin Corporation and implementing this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional US government or contractor representatives to Pakistan, the DSCA said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
WASHINTON US State Secretary Antony Blinken on Tuesday defended military sales to Pakistan after criticism from growing US partner India, which considers itself the target of Islamabad\u2019s F-16 planes. Blinken met in the US capital with India\u2019s foreign minister a day after separate talks with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. The US-Pakistan alliance, born out of […]<\/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-286228","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-top-news"},"yoast_head":"\n