New Delhi
4 March 2010
Reminding the US of India's concerns about Pakistan, Defence Minister AK
Antony on Thursday said "Washington should ensure that the latest tranche of military
aid is used only for countering Al-Qaeda and Taliban and not against India."
According to reports, the US has cleared the sale of a whole array of sophisticated
weapons such as laser-guided bomb kits, surveillance drones and latest-model F-16
fighter jets to Pakistan to boost its forces' capability to strike in remote tribal areas to
take on Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists. The latest tranche of military aid will increase
the US counter-insurgency assistance fund for Pakistan to 1.2 billion dollars in 2011
from 700 million dollars today.
Mr Antony said India has had a bitter past experience of how Islamabad used such aid
against India.
Pakistan's military inventory comprises significant numbers of US weapon systems and
platforms, including C-130 transport aircraft, F-16 fighter jets and Cobra gunship
helicopters. Pakistan has been operating the F-16 fighters since mid-80s and recently,
the US had agreed to upgrade them.
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