The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : F-16s for Pakistan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

F-16s for Pakistan

Sir, — The U.S.' claim that the sale of F-16s to Pakistan will not change the overall balance of military power in South Asia and that it is vital to Pakistan's security as Pervez Musharraf prosecutes the war on terror is an unbelievably simplistic defence of an indefensible action.

Gen. Musharraf may be fighting terrorism in his own country but there is no indication of his doing so outside Pakistan's borders. Are we to believe that he is going to use the F-16 aircraft against terrorists in his own country? On the contrary, we know for a fact that the military hardware supplied to Pakistan has always been used against India notwithstanding assertions to the contrary.

J.V. Sharma,
NSW, Sydney

Sir, — The U.S. is making an endeavour to induce an arms race in the sub-continent. Both India and Pakistan, which are already saddled with heavy expenditures on the social and economic fronts, should understand the larger game plan of the U.S. and resist its offer.

Vineeth R. Nair,
Ahmedabad

Sir, — Coming as it does at a time when New Delhi's ties with Islamabad are on the upswing, the offer is unfortunate. By offering India some sops for the licensed production of F-16s and F-18s, the U.S. has certainly fuelled an arms race.

P. Jawahar,
New Delhi

Sir, — The offer appears to be part of a two-pronged U.S. strategy to force India to abandon its pipeline project with Iran via Pakistan. One, bargain directly with India; two, hamper the peace process so that India will shelve the project because of security concerns. In both the instances, Pakistan and India will be the losers.

Abi Lazar,
Thrissur, Kerala

Sir, — The latest U.S. decision does not enhance the détente process in any way. It will only lead both countries to a financial crisis.

Priyanka Chakrabarty,
Guwahati

Sir, — The U.S. plans to achieve several objectives with the single card of an arms deal with India and Pakistan. The deal is part of an aggressive marketing strategy to sustain loss-making American arms-manufacturing firms. More important, it is meant to upset the peace process between the two South Asian neighbours. It will definitely impact negatively on the ongoing India-Pakistan dialogue.

Ruby Kumari,
New Delhi

Sir, — The sale of F-16s to Pakistan and a similar offer to India are clearly meant to shore up the American military industrial complex. India should not fall for the latest American offer and further its interests at the expense of mitigating the problems of the poor and the needy.

Kasim Sait,
Chennai

Sir, — This seems to be an attempt to fuel an arms race and pave the way for the destabilisation of South Asia. The UPA dispensation should be wary of the U.S. offer.

John Deepak,
Avinissery, Kerala

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