Indo-Russian defense deals worry Pakistan

Indo-Russian defense deals worry Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (Reuters): Pakistan voiced worries on Monday over defense deals arch-rival India has made with Russia and said major powers should instead try to persuade New Delhi to settle its disputes with Islamabad.

"It is natural for us to feel concerned over the prospect of induction of massive quantities of new equipment and arms recently contracted for purchase from Russia which will be destabilizing for the region," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

But the spokesman, Riaz Mohammad Khan, whose comment was Pakistan's first on the contracts signed last week during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, said nuclear-capable Pakistan could deter any aggression.

He said Pakistan was pursuing "a policy of restraint and avoidance of arms race, conventional or nuclear" and again offered a no-war pact with India.

He said Pakistan's stance was in contrast with New Delhi, which made its ambitions evident by increasing its last defense budget 28 percent.

"This does not augur well for promoting a security environment of trust, peace, stability and confidence," he said.

"It is in the interest of the region that nothing is done to whet the Indian ambitions. Instead the major powers can play a positive role by persuading India to resolve disputes and differences and follow the path of dialogue and cooperation."

Pakistan, a close ally of the United States during the Cold War but now denied U.S. weapons, extended an unusual warmth to a Russian official when Putin sent a special envoy, Sergie Yastrzhembsky, to Islamabad before going to India.

But any optimism generated in Islamabad by Yastrzhembsky's September 26-27 visit about the possibility of better relations with Moscow seemed dampened by defense deals between Cold War-era friends India and Russia.

Khan called Pakistan's defenses as "impregnable" and said "the world knows we have the capability to deter any aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan".

Pakistan demonstrated its nuclear capability by testing its nuclear bombs in May 1998 in response to similar tests by India in a development that brought international condemnation and economic sanctions for both countries.

Russia and India last week forged a strategic partnership under which they agreed not to join any military political alliance, associations or armed conflict against each other and also signed four agreements, including for the purchase by India of T-90 S battletanks and Sokhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, an a protocol on military technical cooperation.

U.S. weapons supplies have been the mainstay of Pakistan's military, but Washington banned weapon sales to Islamabad in 1990 because of its objections to Pakistan's nuclear program.