ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday expressed deep concern over the United States’ plan to transfer advanced military technologies to India, saying that it could cause military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability.
Addressing a weekly press briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan urged the international partners to take a holistic and objective view of the issues of peace and security in South Asia and refrain from endorsing positions that are one-sided and divorced from ground realities.
The remarks came a day after President Donald Trump said the US would increase military sales to India starting in 2025 and eventually provide F-35 fighter jets.
“We’ll be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We’re also paving the way to provide India with the F-35 stealth fighters,” Trump said while addressing a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.
Trump did not provide a timeline, but foreign military sales, especially for cutting-edge technology like the stealthy F-35 jet, typically take years to work through.
India has agreed to buy more than $20 billion of U.S. defense products since 2008. Last year, India agreed to buy 31 MQ-9B SeaGuardian and SkyGuardian drones after deliberations that lasted more than six years.
During the weekly presser today, the FO spokesperson also termed Pakistan’s specific reference in the India-US joint statement as “one sided, misleading and contrary to diplomatic norms”.
“Pakistan reference in the Indo-US joint statement cannot cover up India’s sponsorship of terrorism, subversion, and extrajudicial assassinations in the region and beyond,” Shafqat Ali said.
The joint statement, accusing Pakistan of involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, came after Trump and Modi met at the White House a day earlier.
“The leaders [Modi and Trump] called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks,” it had stated.
Responding to the allegations, the FO spokesperson said that Pakistan’s reference had been included notwithstanding its counterterrorism cooperation with the US.
He said that such references could not shift international attention from the stark reality of India being a safe haven for perpetrators of hate crimes against Muslims and other minorities.
“The joint statement fails to address India’s non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions, which is a key source of tension and instability in the region, nor does it take cognizance of the grim human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Regrettably, this amounts to an abdication of international responsibility,” he remarked.
The spokesperson reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to contributing constructively to regional and global efforts to promote peace and stability and bring the fight against terrorism to its logical conclusion.
US ‘approves extradition’ of suspect in 2008 Mumbai attacks
The US has approved the extradition of a suspect in the 2008 militant attacks in India’s financial capital Mumbai in which over 160 people were killed, President Donald Trump said on Thursday in a press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The three-day attacks on hotels, a train station and a Jewish centre in which 166 people were killed began on November 26, 2008. India claims Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba orchestrated the attacks. Pakistan’s government denies being involved.
“I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world, having to do with the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India. So he is going to be going back to India to face justice,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Trump did not name the individual in the press conference but a joint statement from the two sides later identified the man as Pakistani-origin Chicago businessman and Canadian citizen Tahawwur Rana.
Late last month, the US Supreme Court rejected Rana’s review petition against his extradition. Rana was previously sentenced to US federal prison for providing support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Trump was also asked in the press conference about Sikh separatists in the United States, whom India calls security threats. Sikh separatists demand an independent homeland known as Khalistan to be carved out of India.
Trump did not respond directly to the question but said India and the US worked together on crime.
