Posted on 03/29/2005 6:51:01 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
New Delhi, March 28 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Monday urged the central government to reject the US offer of sale of F-16 fighter jets as this would trigger an "arms race with Pakistan".
A statement by the CPI-M politburo said that accepting the US offer would affect India-Pakistan ties.
"India should reject the proposal to join the infamous National Missile Defence System as joining it will be tantamount to becoming a junior partner of the USA," the politburo warned.
"Acceptance of these offers would also adversely impact India-Pakistan relations."
"The game of the Bush administration is clear. It intends to draw India into a strategic military relationship just as Pakistan has been involved in one for decades."
The Communists argued that the US was trying to fuel an arms race between India and Pakistan with the sale of sophisticated weapons.
"The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government should be wary of such offers. First of all, India has been accessing defence equipment from a number of countries and experience shows that the US cannot be relied upon to be a dependable supplier for political reasons," the statement said.
The party, which supports the government from outside, said the US effort to "inveigle India into a strategic military alliance" should not sidetrack the government's effort to forge closer ties with other major countries, including China.
DIPTOSH MAJUMDAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 28: Anti-Americanism may become a key aspect of the CPI(M) party congress beginning next week. The latest warning issued by the Politburo is a pointer — the party does not want the UPA regime to buy the aircrafts being offered by the US government.
Already in the draft political resolution, which has been discussed at all state conferences and will be adopted in the Delhi congress next week, American foreign policy has been singled out as the cause behind most of the world’s recent woes. The US policy in Iraq has been lambasted in the draft.
The CPI(M) is feeling buoyed enough with its increased tally in the Lok Sabha. It has been toasted by other Communist parties in the world too; Latin American and European parties have started taking the CPI(M) seriously for building a massive organisation in a democratic set-up. The recent visit of Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chavez was also a morale booster for the party.
The CPI(M) is well aware that under these changed global circumstances, the glueing factor among Marxists across the world is a degree of anti-Americanism. That was what Karat probably felt when he visited Caracas a few months back. Sitaram Yechury also witnessed a similar dislike for a ‘‘hegemonistic’’ US among European reds at the Portuguese Communist Party congress.
Ping!
Their usual response has always been that India should buy no weaponry at all.They seem to have left that part aside & are only targetting the Americans,wonder why that is??Russian arms lobby??
I hope you acquire the F-16. Do you know which block they are offering?
I think the US initially offered the F-16 Blk52,though India said it wanted to see the Blk 60 version.I think LM recently said they would sell India a customised version,better than any existing version,if they need it(provided the US Govt allows it!!).Some official even coined the term 'Blk 70' for it.
Ohh. So it will come with an avionics suite?
Really have no clue.It's still at a political level,so any moment will only be after India expresses solid interest & Im not exactly sure of that happening.
What happened to the Mirages. Its been almost a decade of negotiation.
Not exactly.India considered a baseline Mirage-2005 against the SU-30 in the early 90s & the SU-30 won the contract.In 1996,India decided to buy around 10 Mirage-2000H fighters as attrition replacements.The current 126 plane contract is for jets to replace Mig-21/23 & Jaguar aircraft.The Mirage-2005 Mk2 is the aircraft under consideration & it's a relatively new aircraft.
I met a Retired Air chief Marshall from India. Nice guy, he thought the IAF was superior to the PLA Air force.
In quality,yes & to a lesser extent in quantity,as the PLAAF is also stretched to confront potential threats from Taiwan,Vietnam & Japan/US.India has the Pakis to deal with & as long as the US hangs around in Afghanistan,the Pakis may behave.But it must be said the PLAAF is rapidly improving it's fleet as well as logistics & training.
It is. But I wonder for how long? Once they build their 250+ Flankers, they will be quite a force to reckon with.
If selling 150 FC-1 fighters & building a deepwater port & nuclear reactors isn't a sign of strong strategic ties,I wonder what is??
Maybe more financial help.
The Indian Communists are true devils. Somehow we didnt do a thorough job of mopping up communism in the World. These parasites exist in Venezuela, Cuba, India, N.Korea etc.
Some of the indians on this board hide the fact - the present Indian government has a huge MARXIST influence. The Marxists are anti-israel, anti-US.
They run RED dictartorships in parts of India including Bengal. Indian democracy in these parts is a joke.
As long as these MARXISTS are in power, the US should be wary of India. Many of these guys are invited to colleges in the West and study and live here at the taxpayers expense.
Their Hindu nationalist party isn't any better. I hope this F-16 deal does not go through. 20 years from now, India will stab us in the back, then we will wonder how in the world did we create this Frankenstein in the first place. Remember the Mujahadeen 20 years ago, the freedom fighters fighting the Soviet Union in Afganistan, who gave us 9/11?
Convenient that they've forgotten Pakistan had a large part to play in that, and the Taleban, and the Al Qaeda.
Guess what, reward them with F16s. Never seen better foreign policy. < backslash sarcasm >
We are already creating a frankenstein and it is called PAKISTAN. duhhh..(Sorry..I am not taking the bait on India bashing.) The main threat to the world is islamic fundamentalism backed by a chinese dictatorship.
In the other parts of the world we need to encourage anti-communist forces in cuba, venezuela, india, nepal etc etc. India is an extremely pacifist nation and will stay that way till the communists seize power.
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