- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Indian external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Sunday (25) raised questions over the “merits” of the US-Pakistan relationship and said that Washington’s ties with Islamabad have not served the “American interest”.
“It’s a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving the American interests,” Jaishankar said at an event organised by the Indian American community in Washington.
The Indian minister said this when questioned by the audience on the US action on F-16 fighter jets with Pakistan.
Just weeks ago, for the first time since 2018, the US state department approved a foreign military sale (FMS) to the Pakistani government for the sustainability of the Pakistan Air Force F-16 fleet and equipment at the cost of $450 million.
Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh promptly conveyed to US defence secretary Lloyd Austin India’s concerns over Washington’s decision to provide a sustenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.
“It’s really for the United States today to reflect on the merits of this relationship and what they get by it,” Jaishankar asserted.
“For someone to say I am doing this because it is all counter-terrorism content and so when you are talking of an aircraft like a capability of an F-16 where everybody knows, you know where they are deployed and their use. You are not fooling anybody by saying these things,” he added.
“If I were to speak to an American policy-maker, I would really make the case (that) look what you are doing,” he further said.
The Indian foreign minister on Saturday (24) concluded the high-level United Nations General Assembly debate in New York and is scheduled to spend the next three days in Washington.
He is scheduled to meet with his American counterpart — secretary of state Anthony Blinken — and other top officials of the Joe Biden administration.
[With ANI inputs]
