US tells India, drop dead

Rediff ^ | March 28, 2005 | Kanchan Gupta

[Gengis Khan]

US tells India, drop dead

March 28, 2005

A friend, usually upbeat about India-US relations, sent me an angry mail over the weekend after President George Bush called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the evening of March 25 to inform him that the US had decided to supply F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in an interview to The Washington Post, "dismissed concerns" about the fallout of the American decision. The mail reads:

"lovely easter gift to india from the us.

moral: proliferate nukes, threaten us interests everywhere, be terror hub, and get rewarded for it. this has been north korea's experience, china's experience, saudi arabia's experience, and pakistan's experience.

suck up to the us, desperately crave its goodwill, allow its odious conversion machine to dictate terms to you, and get slapped on the face. this is india's experience.

simple solution for india: proliferate nuke and missile technology to anybody who wants it, especially taiwan and japan. this will immediately get american respect, much as pokhran-ii did."

The issues that arise from USA's decision to strengthen Pakistan's strike power, I feel, are much larger than merely seeking or getting "American respect." A nation whose civilisational history stretches back to 5,000 years, that is more than Americans can count without a Texas Instruments TI-83, and whose billion-plus population is not dependent on American wheat surplus of the PL 480 variety, can do without "American respect." Thank you very much, but America is welcome to stuff its "respect" in a hot dog.

The larger concerns are two-fold. First, Washington's mollycoddling of Pakistan, a rogue state that has not only proliferated cross-border jihadi terrorism but also spawned an underground bazaar where it has been hawking weapons of mass destruction to other rogue states. Second, the arms race that will follow America's dubious deal, with both India and Pakistan upping their defence expenditure at the cost of social welfare spending.

A third aspect that merits comment is the glib manner in which Rice, during the joint press conference she addressed along with Minister for External Affairs Natwar Singh during her brief stopover in New Delhi earlier this month, waved away any 'announcement' of an American deal on F-16s for Pakistan in the immediate future. Perhaps time and space are extremely elastic for those who wax eloquent on "absent morals" of others.

It is immaterial whether or not Pakistan has been assisting the US in pursuing its "war against terror" -- ask those who are involved in the war, including intelligence operatives, and they will tell you Islamabad has been leading Washington down the garden path -- what is material is that India must protect its own national interest. There is little evidence to show that Pakistan has given up the path of terror; nor is there reason to believe that Islamabad is genuinely interested in peace.

If you have any doubts, look at the daily acts of terror in Jammu and Kashmir; the insidious growth of ISI modules in the Northeast; and, the export of jehadi fundamentalism to India via Nepal. Nothing has changed in the last one year, never mind peaceniks who are making silly asses of themselves.

The absurd claim put out by unnamed sources in the US State Department that the F-16s form part of American assistance to Pakistan to wage war on terrorism is as laughable as the lollypop of advanced fighter jets (F-18s, no less) and nuclear power reactors that has been offered to India. "What the Americans have announced is the actual, physical delivery of F-16s to Pakistan and a bunch of nice promises for India," a foreign office official in New Delhi has said underscoring the absurdity.

No less absurd is the claim made by "senior administration officials" at a background briefing for "select journalists" that the military assistance to Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf was aimed at ensuring "a fully democratic, economically promising Pakistan, that feels secure and is thus at peace with its neighbours."

The officials might as well have added that it is inconsequential the US's favourite tin pot dictator is to blame for the runaway basement bomb programmes in North Korea, Iran and Libya, among others. Boys will be boys, you see, naughty and mischievous; what's a component here and a blueprint there?

Those nations that have committed the mistake of trusting the US have come to grief, and how. It will be disastrous if India makes a similar mistake. If the UPA government believes in what it says, that India is a sovereign nation free to make its own choices, then it should not touch the American promise with a bargepole.

The Pakistanis can seek satisfaction in saving 5,000 jobs at Lockheed Martin Corp, Indians need not lose sleep over the plight of unemployed workers in Texas. In fact, it will be fun to watch Bush and Rice squirm, which they shall, if Manmohan Singh and his team look through their alleged offer and go ahead with selecting the next generation, multi-purpose jets from what has been offered by the French, the Swedes and the Russians.

If they choose to be charmed by the Americans, then India might as well say goodbye to its sovereign identity and become another client state of the US like Pakistan has become.

PS: At the launch of journalist Wilson John's book Pakistan's Nuclear Underworld: An Investigation, a devastating expose of how A Q Khan and his bosses in khaki went around hawking nuclear know-how for a fistful of dollars, in New Delhi last week, a former foreign secretary, mindful of the presence of two diplomats from the US mission in the audience, charged the Americans with "doubletalk and duplicity" on illicit nuclear proliferation by the Pakistanis.

Later, one of the American diplomats, fuming over being shown up so bluntly, accosted him and told him that he had been "offensive and insulting to my country" and "you could have been more nuanced without being inaccurate." Retorted the former diplomat: "We are a free country. We can say what we want… I couldn't care less for pretensions of the American empire."

Let's order a second hot dog!

[cooper72]

Ok Cronos, it came across different mate. :-)

The Indian Hindus and Sikhs have added greatly to the culture of Britain, and have integrated and are proud to be British as well as their ancestry.

However, and this is of course a generalisation, but a large minority of Pakistani/British hate Britain and America, and genuinely love Bin Laden.

[sukhoi-30mki]

Nopers!!!Kanchan is a guy-I've seen him appear on NDTV & Star.

[monday]

"So you believe the Pak's are, indeed suicidal?"

Many are. They hate India more than they love life. Suicidal?, yes.

[quantfive]

"Umm,Pakistan is getting over a 100 jets from China irrespective of the F-16 deal & Russia has to big a market in India to lose by selling to Pakistan."

Exactly my point - no need for some big uproar because we sold 16 1980's fighters to Pak.

[sukhoi-30mki]

India & has been designing(a very difficult thing) & building it's own fighters & other aircraft since the 50s.Like Japan,South Korea,Israel & others,it seeks to export combat aircraft instead of developing on it's own to save time & resources.If you think India is going buy 126 aircraft from a US manufacturer or any other nation,you seriously have no clue about the contract.Only 20 or 30 will be built by the manufacturer,the remaining will be built under license by an Indian company-something many advanced nations do.

[sukhoi-30mki]

The number(as of now) is 24 & the Pakis have an outstanding demand for 70.& If im not mistaken,they want F-16 Blk 52s & AMRAAM missiles,which are anything but 1980s era stuff.

[Gengis Khan]

Nope?...But the name sounds feminine......

[sukhoi-30mki]

Yep,that's the weird part.The Guy has a moustache(Well he had it till last week!!),spectacles & was dressed in a salwar kurta or something.

[Gengis Khan]

"This is a tough game, but Bush decided the complaints from the Indians are less then the heat he wants to put on the Chicoms."

Well Bush could have given us the F-16s if he wanted to really put some heat on the Chicoms. Pak is China's main ally and China will only be happy to have a look at Pakistans kitty.

BTW: Most Indians arnt vegans, its only a stereotype.....just like this "outsourcing" hype.

[bullseye1911]

Ok I've read most all of your comments and you have me convinced. India should continue to look on Pakistan as the Palestinians look on Israel. That has been really productive for, oh the last 50 years. Let me remind you buddy, none of the democracy breaking out in the cesspool of the middle east and Mediterranean is occurring for any other reason than the Bush strategy! If we were to pursue you and your kinds theories, we won't have to send any more billions of our hard earned $ or arms (or armies) to defend the status quo. I'm done! Good luck, you'll need it!

[desidude_in_us]

So what has India done for the U.S. ever? The Indians have sucked up to Russia and or China for decades going any way possible but towards the U.S.

Thats ancient history bro.. It has no bearing on our future course of action, since the world order has changed completely with the collapse of soviet union.. In the past, US used to aid Saddam Hussein against Iranians and Osama against Soviets, remember ?

Now the world has changed to such an extent that US and India need each other much more than US needs old europe.

Till the F-16 fiasco, Indians were probably more pro-US than most of your so-called European "allies" (unless you count Moldovia, Estonia and other such tiny countries with populations less than Houston) who do display their anti-American tendencies, time and again.

And of course, dont you think its utterly naive to reject the goodwill of a billion+ people who represent a 6th of humanity, and instead cling on to some stupid historical mistakes of either sides, esp when both sides could gain more from co-operation ?

It surely doesnt make any sense to me that the world's two largest democracies keep fighting/mistrusting each other, especially in this new world order where Islamo-fascists are the sole threat to both their interests.

[Awestruck]

Take what in stride? the arming of her enemies by a country that claims to be her friend? that would tick me off too frankly...

[Joe Boucher]

Many friends of mine ar Hindu Indians. They are to a one, nice law abiding and religious.

To a one they all say Pakistanis are nuts esecially when it comes to religion.

However the facts are the following. India has yet to ally itself with anything American. As a matter of fact, most of the wea[pons systems they buy still come from china and Russia. And they do little but bad mouth the u.S.and its polocies.
I would love to have India on board with the war on terror which seems to be mostly a war against Muslims.

On the other hand, most of Pakistans weapons are American and they do seem to allow U.S. troops to go after Alqueda on pakistani ground.
Now if that is living in the past in your eyes so be it but it is the truth.

[Joe Boucher]

They are directed at Pakistan but are available to insure the Chi-coms behave.

[SaltyJoe]

Acta non Verba. Do you still keep your license from the zoo? (It's a KP thing, others probably don't know what we're talking about).

Here's a thought to consider...Pakistan doesn't have an edge sharp enough to go toe to toe with India in an aerial dogfight. Indian pilots are VERY good.

Furthermore, if the Pakis were to send a nuke into India, they wouldn't risk it with a multi-million dollar aircraft. Both India and Pakistan would send that sort of munition by camel, donkey, technical vehicle, or whatever low-grade and impossible to trace vehicle is available (for political deniable purposes). Neither of the two nations have enough strength to keep their own populations from internal fighting.

F-16s are relics compared to newer fighters. Here's an historical parallel: the Russian Mig was superior to the US Sabre, yet the training provided by the US had Americans clearly ahead in the air war over Korea. India has far superior pilots over Pakistan. Pakistan having F-16s doesn't give them an edge.

Finally, Pakistan had purchased F-16s long before "W" was President. I recall one of Pakistan's Prime Ministers embarrassing President Clinton during her visit to the US basically addressing, on TV even, "give us our jets, or give us our money back." I'll accept any correction if I'm wrong about that.

It has taken quite a convincing for Pakistan to remove its extremist and the Pakis in charge have done far more than what radical Jihadism (in their own neighborhoods to boot) would ever allow. Allowing the Falcon purchase is probably a reward of trust. A squadron of outdated F-16s won't upset the balance of power in the region. If they were sold F-15s, then that would be a very different story. Instead, the US has made an effective political and business deal. If the Pakis didn't buy "Made in the USA", they would have bought a Euro-fighter or similar aircraft, and the money would have transferred to the EU.

I can't speak for Indians, but I'm sure that they're not overly optimistic about Pakistan having F-16s. But if any air power knows dog fighting, India probably knows the F-16's pro & cons the best (considering it's training with the USAF).

[Allosaurs_r_us]

"GIMME A LOUSY BREAK!!!!"

 

After looking at your home page, in a word NO! It is easy to see where your loyalties lie. India has been opening diplomatic relations with China in the past year and a half if I recall correctly. They both have pledged greater assistance to each other.

 

Though India does have a need for the oil  from Iran, it is an ace in the hole where China is concerned. China is trying to beg, borrow ,or steal as much oil as it can get it's hands on. They are destined to overtake the US as the major oil importer in the not so distant future. Personal transportation in China (i.e. automobiles) far exceeds India. They are a long ways off in that category, and that will be China's driving force in the years to come.

 

I agree Pakistan is like getting in bed with snakes, but we have little choice in the matter if we are going to continue to  drive terrorists out of business. As far as American pilots I will match them against anyone in the world and am quite sure who will win that battle. You don't seriously think we will give anyone the technology to best us at our own game do you?

 

You mention India quite a bit on your home page, but the pictures you are linking to do not show up. Perhaps if you fixed them I could understand your obviously biased view. I mean are you from India or what? If that is the case then it is easy to understand your view of Pakistan.

[Righty_McRight]

Who said we're offering them AMRAAMS?

[USMMA_83]

Ah no...wrong. As a matter of fact, a large Isralie armed forces delegation was in India on 9/11. Both the Indian and Isralie leadership team watched in horror what was happening. Then then PM of India immediately called Bush for offer any support. Bush and the Pentagon called Pakistan and made them an offer they could not refuse (ie. support us, or we carpet bomb pakistan with India's help). Pakistan relented, on only one condition. That Israel and India be not included in the WOT! Get your facs right man!

[USMMA_83]

Joe! Nice to talk to you. USMMA was great for me. I'm a first generation American...and boy the honor of serving America as an Officer was beyond words. By the way, my parents are from India..one is a Jew, the other a Hindu. So, that being said...I'm a bit biased on this whole issue of supplying weaponry to an Islamic state. Take my opinion with a grain of salt. But, to add more meat to my arguement, let me state also that due to my language skills, and military training, and obvious "south asian" looks, I was lets just say...able to wander around in both India and Pakistan. Don't ask more about that. I've also had the misfortune to train some officers from the Pakistani navy.

Let me tell you brother, they are decitful. Now regarding the F16s for Pakistan (Land of the Pure). I don't mind the deal one bit...except that the Pakistanis are dillusional. They will actully think that they have the US in their back pocket, and will...mark my words...in a few months (before winter sets in) launch some sort of misadventure in Kashmir.

These Pakistanis belive their own lies. For instance, when India was going to launch an all out invasion of Pakistan (after Paki intl. was implicated on the attack on the Indian Parlament), Musharraf phoned frantically to Bush to ask the Indians to pull back. The Indians in their folly did. Do you know what the story in Pakistan is about this incident...the story is that the Indians are weak, have no strength, are intimidated by Pakitan. They are completely nuts buddy. NUTS!!

And, yes I do agree with you that if Pakitan ever did try anything with India (with or without F16s), India would clean house there. There were reports during the last war between Pakistan and India (Kargil), that Indian Migs were able to lock on to Pak F16s and the F16s turned tail.

It looks to me that Condi has not done her homework on that part of the world.

Peace brother!

[sukhoi-30mki]

& what was the connection that you said exists with India transporting Iranian oil to China???Man,Ive never heard anything like that.Even the best of allies don't do that sort of thing & you are talking about 2 rivals.Or do you have any proof for your weird claims.India has been improving ties with China & has also been doing the same with the US,Russia,Israel,Pakistan among others-so what's your point on that?????Their border dispute still remains & help to Pakistan will continue.

About my loyalties,if my nationality makes me have a biased view of things,I wonder how many people on here can have a rational take on things like OBL,Iran & Canada.By your logic,none.