Indo-Russian defense deals worry Pakistan<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD (Reuters): Pakistan voiced worries on Monday over
\ndefense deals arch-rival India has made with Russia and said
\nmajor powers should instead try to persuade New Delhi to settle
\nits disputes with Islamabad.<\/p>\n
\"It is natural for us to feel concerned over the prospect of
\ninduction of massive quantities of new equipment and arms
\nrecently contracted for purchase from Russia which will be
\ndestabilizing for the region,\" a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.<\/p>\n
But the spokesman, Riaz Mohammad Khan, whose comment was
\nPakistan's first on the contracts signed last week during Russian
\nPresident Vladimir Putin's visit to India, said nuclear-capable
\nPakistan could deter any aggression.<\/p>\n
He said Pakistan was pursuing \"a policy of restraint and
\navoidance of arms race, conventional or nuclear\" and again
\noffered a no-war pact with India.<\/p>\n
He said Pakistan's stance was in contrast with New Delhi,
\nwhich made its ambitions evident by increasing its last defense
\nbudget 28 percent.<\/p>\n
\"This does not augur well for promoting a security environment
\nof trust, peace, stability and confidence,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It is in the interest of the region that nothing is done to
\nwhet the Indian ambitions. Instead the major powers can play a
\npositive role by persuading India to resolve disputes and
\ndifferences and follow the path of dialogue and cooperation.\"<\/p>\n
Pakistan, a close ally of the United States during the Cold
\nWar but now denied U.S. weapons, extended an unusual warmth to a
\nRussian official when Putin sent a special envoy, Sergie
\nYastrzhembsky, to Islamabad before going to India.<\/p>\n
But any optimism generated in Islamabad by Yastrzhembsky's
\nSeptember 26-27 visit about the possibility of better relations
\nwith Moscow seemed dampened by defense deals between Cold War-era
\nfriends India and Russia.<\/p>\n
Khan called Pakistan's defenses as \"impregnable\" and said \"the
\nworld knows we have the capability to deter any aggression
\nagainst the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan\".<\/p>\n
Pakistan demonstrated its nuclear capability by testing its
\nnuclear bombs in May 1998 in response to similar tests by India
\nin a development that brought international condemnation and
\neconomic sanctions for both countries.<\/p>\n
Russia and India last week forged a strategic partnership
\nunder which they agreed not to join any military political
\nalliance, associations or armed conflict against each other and
\nalso signed four agreements, including for the purchase by India
\nof T-90 S battletanks and Sokhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, an a
\nprotocol on military technical cooperation.<\/p>\n
U.S. weapons supplies have been the mainstay of Pakistan's
\nmilitary, but Washington banned weapon sales to Islamabad in 1990
\nbecause of its objections to Pakistan's nuclear program.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indo-russian-defense-deals-worry-pakistan-1447893297",
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