India Expresses "Great Disappointment"

President Bush Friday agreed to sell Pakistan as many as 24 F-16 fighters (variant unknown), a reward for Islamabad's help in the fight against terror -- but a "great disappointment" to Pakistan's uneasy neighbor, India.

Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called the president's decision "a good gesture.... This shows that our relations are growing stronger." He was quoted by Reuters.
But on the other side of the disputed Kashmir Province, Indian officials were less than enthusiastic about the sale.

Calling the proposed sale "a great disappointment" Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warned President Bush the move "could have negative consequences for India's security environment."

But the White House was undeterred, saying the arms sale could also include F/A-18s. The aircraft, said a Bush spokesman, "are vital to Pakistan's security as President (Pervez) Musharraf takes numerous risks prosecuting the war on terror."

The sales marks an end to the arms blockade Washington instituted against Pakistan after the Muslim nation surprised the US with its first nuclear weapons test in 1990. But faced with the President's statement, "you're either with us or against us" after the September 11th, 2001, terror attacks on New York and Washington, Pakistan has become what the White House terms a "major non-NATO ally."

On the other hand, the Bush administration has made no decisions about a similar warplane deal with India. But that isn't necessarily a policy statement, said a senior White House official. The source told Reuters, "We will respond positively to the Indian tender for bids to sell multi-role combat aircraft."

FMI: www.whitehouse.gov