India concerned over US move to sell Pakistan F-16s

Financial Express

Voicing its concerns over Washington's decision to sell F-16s of Lockheed Martin to Pakistan, New Delhi on Tuesday said the move was "not conducive" to the improvement of ties between India and Pakistan.

Responding to media queries on the Bush administrations's approval to the sale of 18 fighter aircraft to Pakistan, MEA spokesman Navtej Sarna said, "This step is not conducive to improving ties between India and Pakistan."

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, during his meeting with US President George W Bush, had expressed "disappointment" over such a move. According to Sarna, this issue had been a subject of discussion between India and the US, and New Delhi was reiterating its position on the matter.

The Bush administration notified the proposed sale with an option of offering 18 more to Islamabad as part of a $5 billion weapons deal to Congress, which has 30 days to review the offer. Unless Congress passes a legislation to block the deal, it will go ahead.

Asked if such a deal was going to impact the company's offer of 126 multi-role aircraft to India, Joseph W Stout, director communications, Lockheed Martin told FE, "The sale to Pakistan was an agreement between the two governments. And the company does not sell the same aircraft to another country. All machines are tailor-made keeping in mind each other's needs." Link

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