ISLAMABAD: Pakistan showed serious concerns at the US arms deal with India, which will disturb military balance in the region.
The statement came along with reports that the Trump administration has reportedly approved the sale of spy aircraft worth about two billion US dollars. The deal of Guardian MQ-9B unmanned aircraft for maritime surveillance came on the occasion of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington.
“Pakistan is also deeply concerned with the sale of advanced military technologies to India. Such sales emphasise military imbalances in the region and undermine strategic stability in South Asia,” the Foreign Office said in Islamabad.
“This further emboldens India to adopt aggressive military doctrines and even contemplate military adventurism. Transfers of modern military hardware and technologies as well as repeated exceptions made for India have disincentivised India to engage in efforts to establish a strategic restraint regime and durable security architecture in the region,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The statement also criticised the US-India Joint Statement issued from Washington DC on 27 June and said that the Joint Statement is singularly unhelpful in achieving the objective of strategic stability and durable peace in the South Asian region.
The US-India Joint Statement called on Pakistan to ensure that its territory is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. It also urged Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, Pathankot, and other cross-border terrorist attacks perpetrated by Pakistan-based groups.
“By failing to address key sources of tension and instability in the region, the statement aggravates an already tense situation,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.
“The meeting in Washington DC between President Trump and Prime Minister Modi was a missed opportunity to induce India to alter its policies inimical to peace in the region,” it said.
The Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan has been the primary victim of terrorism in the region and that its contributions and sacrifices in fighting terrorism are un-matched.
“We are committed to bring the fight against terrorism to its logical conclusion by eliminating this scourge from our soil. Pakistan expects the international community to unequivocally stand with it in this fight against terrorism,” it went on to say.
The statement recalled that no country has sacrificed as much as Pakistan, not only in material resources but in lives. “Through relentless security operations, we have achieved significant success in eliminating terrorists and their networks from our soil without discrimination.”
“Regrettably, those who seek to appropriate a leadership role in the fight against terror are themselves responsible for much of the terror unleashed in recent years in Pakistan,” the statement said.
It also pointed out that India has supported the Tehreek-Taleban as a proxy against Pakistan from across the border. India’s culpability in creating this further source of regional insecurity cannot be ignored.
On Kashmir, the statement said that India’s persistent “gross human rights violations” in Kashmir and “state backed persecution of religious minorities” in India need to be replaced by respect for basic human dignity, protection of life, property and freedom of speech. Democratic stewardship, as claimed in the statement, demands that as a minimum.
It said that Pakistan firmly believes in the legitimacy of the Kashmir cause and supports the peaceful struggle of the Kashmiri people for their right to self determination- a right promised to them by the international community through repeated UN Security Council resolutions.
Any attempt to equate the peaceful indigenous Kashimiri struggle with terrorism, and to designate individuals supporting the right to self determination as terrorists are unacceptable. Equally unacceptable is the wilful disregard of the atrocities being committed by Indian security forces against innocent Kashimiri civilians.
“This undermines the ideals and principles of the UN Charter. It endangers peace and security in the region,” the statement said. It said that Pakistan stands ready and committed to resolve all outstanding disputes, especially Jammu Kashmir, with India through peaceful means and in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions that underscore the importance of addressing the aspirations of the people of Kashmir, adding this is a commitment that India also needs to make publicly.
