Washington, July 5 (IANS) A $5.1-billion arms package that Washington has offered to Islamabad would neither reduce India's military advantage nor affect the regional balance of power, claims the Pentagon.
Unless stopped by the US Congress, the largest arms deal with Pakistan that has sent alarm bells ringing in New Delhi will give Islamabad 36 new F-16C/D fighter planes besides 36 advanced pilot helmets that can display targeting information on the visor and 500 kits for ground-attack satellite-guided bombs.
But the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has in a statutory notification to Congress claimed that purchase of the aircraft and weapons systems by Pakistan would not significantly reduce India's quantitative or qualitative military advantage.
Release of the weapons systems too will neither affect the regional balance of power nor introduce a new technology as this level of capability or higher already exists in other countries in the region, it told the Congress on June 28.
While the Bush administration officially denies any linkage between the arms package to Pakistan and Washington's civil nuclear deal with New Delhi, observers note that the F-16 proposal was sent to Congress just a day after a key house panel endorsed the India-US nuclear agreement. The next day a Senate panel too approved the India deal.
The House International Relations and Senate Foreign Relations committees have 30 days to approve the sale of F-16s to Pakistan or pass formal resolutions of disapproval. The House committee has scheduled a July 13 hearing to examine the arms package.
Implementation of the proposed deal with Islamabad will require multiple trips to Pakistan involving US government and contractor representatives for technical review/support, programme management, and modification of the aircraft, DSCA said.
'Given its geo-strategic location and partnership in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), Pakistan is a vital ally of the United States, as reflected in the June 2004 designation of Pakistan as a Major Non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization Ally (MNNA),' the agency said in justification of the deal.
The proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping an ally meet its 'legitimate defence requirements'. These weapon systems will be used for close air support in ongoing operations contributing to the GWOT, it said.
Various Bush administration spokespersons, including White House's Tony Snow and State Department's Julie Reside, have since justified the deal as a demonstration of US commitment to a long-term relationship with Pakistan, a Major Non-NATO Ally, which has cooperated closely with it in the Global War on Terror.
Reside has also dismissed any suggestion that the sale could contribute to an arms race in South Asia and said a dialogue between India and Pakistan has already helped reduce tensions and provided greater stability in their region.
New Delhi has described the new arms deal with Pakistan as a 'step not conducive to improving ties between India and Pakistan.' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too had expressed 'disappointment' over such a move during his meeting with President Bush.
But as Stephen P. Cohen, a South Asia specialist at the Brookings Institution, noted, there may be 'a minor Indian backlash, but the nuclear deal is so big that they will probably tolerate this kind of US sale to Pakistan as just the cost of a relationship with Washington'.
The jet fighter's manufacturer, Lockheed Martin that continues to sustain F-16 through overseas sales, is hopeful the deal with Pakistan will help it keep the production lines open beyond 2011. It's also pursuing a deal for F-16s and F-18s with India.
© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service | 
