Rawalpindi: American President Joe Biden’s decision to provide USD 450 million F-16 fighter jets support to Pakistan has left India really displeased with the move. India and USA are close allies and partner countries in QUAD. Yet, the diplomatic channels have expressed India’s displeasure.
Meanwhile, the US has stated that its counterterrorism efforts to be the grounds of the decision; the actuality seems to be lying at Rawalpindi Headquarters and with Army Chief Gen Qamar Jawed Bajwa, several reports added. At the same time, India has been assured by Washington that the multi-million support to Pakistan won’t distort the Indian territory and its military balance in any way.
Despite the assurance from Biden’s administration, the Indian Government, led by Narendra Modi, doesn’t seem to be really satisfied. Moreover, India has informed the Biden government about the possibilities of the jets being used against India. It hasn’t been long since Pakistan used the F-16 jets while it retaliated for India’s Balakot strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist camp, on February 27, 2019.
If reports are to be believed, the following reasons can be attributed for Pakistan being rewarded with F-16 jets:
: Gen Bajwa’s significant role in supplying ammunition to support Ukraine’s war against Russia, using a British aircraft
: It was for the efforts of Gen. Bajwa, the chief of Pakistan Army in maintaining neutrality during the ouster of former PM Imran Khan. Imran Khan was in Moscow to meet ally Russian President Vladimir Putin on the day of Ukrainian invasion on February 24.
: General Bajwa’s contributions towards improvising the cross-border relations between the Indian and Pakistan armies at the Line of Contro (LoC) as the casualties at the borders decrease.
Though the US’s support is being stated to be limited to maintenance of the F-16 fighter jets and isn’t intended to modernise or upgrade the military capabilities.Yet, India seems exasperated with the US’s perspective in justifying the latest foreign military sale for sustainment and related equipment for the fighters.
Currently, Pakistan is in dire need of spare parts for its F-16 fleet, owing to failure of Chinese JF-17 aircraft in meeting the requirements. This had led to Pakistan resorting to using the F-16 fighter jets during the Feb 27, 2019 strike to fire missiles at intercepting Indian fighters.
The official justification from Pentagon on providing support to Pakistan read as – “This will sustain Islamabad’s capability to meet the current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining its F-16 fleet as well as support American foreign policy and national security objectives by allowing interoperability in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”
A senior diplomat has stated that this support would provoke questions on India buying oil from Russia in the context of Ukraine’s crisis and reply from its External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar shall be awaited.
As per the reports, the support isn’t just confined to the provision of F-16 . But , the grounds are also being prepared to get Islamabad off the FATF grey list as in a ploy, Pakistan have asked Taliban regime to locate and arrest Jaish-e-Mohammed’s super terrorist Masood Azhar in Afghanistan. The move was made with an intention to establish Pakistan’s anti-terrorist image that could accede its FATF demands.
