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F-16s sale to Pakistan not raised during Natwar visit

	April 18, 2005

The issue of US sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan “did not come up” during External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh’s meetings with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Singh himself said here on April 15.



Singh’s swift response denying that the issue came up set many journalists wondering if the two sides had consciously chosen to give the issue a go by.

At a White House briefing, spokesman Scott McClellen echoed Singh’s comment.

Asked by a US journalist if Bush and Singh discussed F-16s and whether Washington had given enough assurances to New Delhi so as not to disrupt a delicate balance of power in South Asia, McClellan said: “I think so. And that (F-16s) did not come up in the meeting.”

When the somewhat incredulous journalist asked again, the spokesman reiterated “No. That did not come up in the discussion.”

The Indian minister, during his two-day US visit, met separately with President Bush and Secretary Rice.

McClellan, in his briefing, said: “The meeting really focused on ways to strengthen our bilateral relationship. And this was a briefer meeting than usual because it was with the Foreign Minister, not the Prime Minister.

“And as you’re aware, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be coming to Washington this summer, and the President looks forward to that visit. And the President will be going to India at some point, as well. We haven’t set a time for that, but the President looks forward to making a trip there, as well.”

He said Singh’s visit was focused on “some of what Secretary Rice talked about recently on the strategic dialogue and some of the new initiatives that we’re undertaking. And so they talked about the economic and energy and strategic cooperation that we have on bilateral issues. And that was really the focus of the meeting.”

“We’re going to be continuing to talk about some of the dialogue that we’re having on issues like energy, and I think you’ll be hearing more on that from the State Department and others as we move forward,” he said.

“We previously talked about the issue of the F16s and we’ve had that discussion with India. The President reached out to Prime Minister Singh and talked about it and our belief that it doesn’t change the overall balance of military power in the region, and at the same time recognising that it’s vital to Pakistan’s security. And we also talked about how we would continue to have a strategic dialogue with India on such matters as well,” he said.

Diplomatic sources said that the question of F-16s is on the backburner, especially against the backdrop of the two sides expanding the scope of bilateral ties wider than ever before.

“It is important but not so important as to derail anything. We have had some very fruitful movement forward and we would rather concentrate on that,” one source said.

At a news conference later Singh said India had already conveyed its disappointment to the US and that is where the issue stood.

While India has now realized that what Washington offered New Delhi simultaneously goes far beyond what Islamabad stood to gain, at the same time it does not want to focus too much on it.



F-16 sale, purely a business consideration : US

A senior US official has said his country’s decision to sell F-16 jets to Pakistan was purely a business consideration and not aimed at triggering an arms race in the region.

“Any arms race between India and Pakistan and the issue of strategic balance are matters to be decided by the two neighbours,” said Stephen Blake, director in the South Asia Bureau Office of the US State Department.

“It is a matter of quite a large number of aircraft. Once India expressed its interest in shopping for F-16s, we thought why not sell them to others,” Blake told reporters.

“The decision to supply F-16s was taken because of our relations with Pakistan and because of its assistance in the war on terror,” Blake added.

India has expressed “disappointment” at the US decision to sell the F-16s to Pakistan.

Blake said there was growing interdependence in military and energy issues between India and the US and ties between the two sides were poised for a new chapter of cooperation.

“We are not at each other anymore. We are holding joint military and naval exercises. Our military relationship is now more cooperative than competitive. We are jointly working on missile defence systems and space programmes,” he said.

“I have read that India might take part in the Red Flag exercise at a US airbase. Only close allies are invited there,” Blake said.

He noted cooperation on energy was essential with oil prices rising over $50 a barrel. “There will be a big dialogue on energy cooperation soon.”

“Our emphasis is now on South Asia and India is very important. You can see how Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s first stop was India during her South Asia visit,” Blake remarked.