US, India Vow to Bolster Ties Despite Strain Over US-Pakistan Arms Deal

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (R) welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, on July 28, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

Top U.S. and Indian officials on Sept. 27 pledged to deepen security and economic cooperation against the backdrop of Washington’s $450 million F-16 deal with Pakistan, which India has strongly opposed.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Washington, a day after his separate meeting with Pakistan’s foreign affairs minister.

Blinken said the U.S.-India partnership is “one of the most consequential in the world” and that both countries have made “real progress” in elevating it through institutions like the Quad and G-20 in the past years.

https://twitter.com/SecBlinken/status/1574821349763305478

Blinken also justified Washington’s decision to provide Pakistan with an F-16 jet fleet sustainment package, saying that it was for the maintenance of Pakistan’s existing fleet and to help the country fight terrorism.

“These are not new planes, new systems, new weapons. It’s sustaining what they have,” Blinken said at a joint press briefing with Jaishankar on Tuesday.

“Pakistan’s program bolsters its capability to deal with terrorist threats emanating from Pakistan or from the region. It’s in no one’s interest that those threats be able to go forward with impunity, and so this capability that Pakistan has had can benefit all of us in dealing with terrorism,” he added.

The U.S. State Department earlier approved the potential sale of sustainment and related equipment to Pakistan in a deal valued at $450 million. But India is concerned that the fleet could be used against it.

India Condemns US-Pakistan Arms Deal

While Jaishankar did not respond to Blinken’s remarks during the press conference, he did criticize the Biden administration’s decision during his interaction with the Indian community in New York on Sept. 25.

“For someone to say I’m doing this as it’s for counter-terrorism, when you’re talking about an aircraft like the capability of the F-16, you’re not fooling anybody by saying that,” he said, according to India Today.

Jaishankar also questioned the U.S.-Pakistan relationship, saying that it has not served the interests of the United States.

“Very honestly, it’s a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well nor serving American interests. So, it’s really for the U.S. today to reflect on what the merits are of this relationship and what they get by it,” he added.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that Washington’s relations with Pakistan and India “stand on their own.”

“These are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each, and we look to both as partners because we do have in many cases shared values, we do have in many cases shared interests,” he told reporters on Sunday.

Pakistan, which is nuclear-armed like India, has relied heavily on Chinese-made jets, but its fleet’s F-16s remain the most effective and advanced.

India and Pakistan have gone to war on three occasions. They engaged in an aerial battle in 2019 over the disputed region of Kashmir, during which India said it had shot down a Pakistani F-16 after one of its jets was brought down. Pakistan denied the claim.

Reuters contributed to this report.