The hardware includes 15 AH-1Z attack helicopters, 1,000 Hellfire missiles, targeting & positioning systems
India has “conveyed concerns” to the U.S. over its
approval of military sales including attack helicopters and Hellfire
missiles worth nearly a billion dollars to Pakistan, the government said
on Wednesday.
In a written reply to a question in
Parliament, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said India had
“noted” the State Department’s decision to go ahead with the defence
sales, which were announced in April this year. The sales included 15
AH-1Z attack helicopters, 1,000 Hellfire missiles, engines, targeting
and positioning systems and other equipment worth $952 million.
“The
government has consistently conveyed to the U.S. that it must take into
account India-U.S. relations and the impact on India’s security in
deciding its military assistance to Pakistan,” Ms. Swaraj said.
MEA sources told The Hindu
that the concerns had been conveyed at “various levels, both to the
State Department and to the White House”, without disclosing exact
dates, or what the U.S. response was.
The
government’s statement is the first time that India has articulated its
objections over sales to Pakistan quite so clearly. The decision to arm
Pakistan was particularly upsetting as President Obama had announced an
accompanying aid outlay of $1 billion for the year, as well as a
six-fold increase in FMF or Foreign Military Financing to $265 million
within days of visiting India in January this year.
‘Not for offensive capabilities’
To
questions about the announcement of the added military sales, State
Department spokesperson Marie Harf had said they were not meant for
offensive capabilities. “They are for internal counter-terrorism uses
inside Pakistan — so to be very clear about that, going after terrorists
inside their own country,” Ms. Harf said on April 8 this year. A recent
Congressional report has also disclosed that the U.S. has given
military hardware, including F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan amounting
to $5.4 billion since the 9/11 terror attacks.
In her
statement, Ms. Swaraj said the government “keeps a constant watch on
all developments that have a bearing on national interest and takes
necessary steps to safeguard it.”
India also took up
China’s announcement of a $46 billion package for the China-Pakistan
Economic Corridor, that included funding development projects in
Pakistan occupied Kashmir when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Premier
Li Keqiang in Beijing in May, and Ms. Swaraj had raised concerns over
the Russian offer of Mi-35 helicopters to Pakistan when she met Deputy
Prime Minister Rogozin in 2014.
The Pakistan government has criticised India for expressing such concerns in the past.
thehindu
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