The Free Republic India and Indo-US Issues Ping !
Freepmail me if you want on/off.
Looks like we need to keep open our option to join Moscow-Delhi-Beijing axis.
Posted on 07/12/2005 2:28:40 AM PDT by Gengis Khan
Islamabad, July 12: In an apparent balancing act following concerns expressed by Pakistan over the recently signed 10-year defence pact between India and US, Washington has offered to sell its Hawkeye-2000 surveillance planes to Islamabad.
The American offer to sell the planes was made during a briefing held for top Pakistani defence officials on board US aircraft carrier Nimitz, currently anchored 171 km off Karachi coast yesterday, a Pakistan TV network reported.
Two Hawkeye aircraft were also flown to Pakistan navy station PNS Mehran in Karachi yesterday to display them for Pakistani defence officials. A special demonstration of the planes and their features was also held by the commander of Nimitz, rear admiral peter H Daley, on board the warship for the delegation of Pakistan defence officials headed by Defence Secretary Retd General Tariq Wasim Gazil, Geo TV reported. US had earlier offered to sell surveillance aircraft, being used by US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to spy on the movements of the terrorists, to Pakistan, it quoted the American officials as saying. Hawkeye-2000 is operated on ground and on board the US warships.
Besides attending the briefing, Gazil also inspected the F-18 jets during the visit of the US naval ship. The Pakistani defence officials team that visited the ship included officials from army, navy, air force and Pakistan's maritime security agency.
Equipped with latest communication facilities, the Hawkeye is used to maintain effective contacts between land, air and naval forces.
Talks are being held between the two countries on pricing as well as the quantum of planes to be sold to Pakistan.
The American offer to sell the new surveillance aircraft to Pakistan follows serious concerns raised by its leaders over the India-US defence pact signed during the recent visit of Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee to the United States. Pakistan has said that acquisition of Pac-3, patriot defence missile systems by India from United States would upset the balance of power in the region and spur arms race. Islamabad is currently on the verge of acquiring F-16 planes to keep in step with the modernisation drive
of the Indian Air Force (IAF). According to Pakistan Air force (PAF) officials, Pakistan plans to acquire about 70 new as well as used F-16 aircraft from us at a price of around three billion dollars.
sounds nuts to me.
why would we do this?
Pakistan will probably need the Hawkeye-2000 and the PC3 Orions along with the F-16s to take on the terroists........or so we will be told.....
....and we will be told not to complain too much about it.
That having been said, why the heck are we selling it to Terrorstan?
"why the heck are we selling it to Terrorstan?"
Check post #4.
Ping!
Great way to get India on our side.
Who gives a damn for Pakistan?
So they have some nukes. They aren't really our friends anyway. And will use the nukes or give them to other Muslim countries if they feel a need.
1) They border Afghanistan and give us access/permission to go after OBL and the Taliban.
2) They are an Islamic country with nukes that we do not want to see be influenced by or go the way of the radicals.
Those are good reasons, but, IMHO, they are offset because we do not get nearly the kind of support we need in Pakistan itself for our own troops and forces because the dictator there is walking a tight rope to try and stay in power himself. The fact is, for the most part, due to its population, Pakistan already is a fundemental Islamic state.
This truth makes our every move their a tightrope walk...and the Chinese are in there constantly trying to influence them into their sphere of inluence, significantly complicating matters.
IMHO, we should cut a deal with the leader there to help him destroy his nukes and then spirit him and hsi top scientists off to someplace where they will be wealthy the rest of their lives, and where we can keep an eye on those scientists. While we do that, we should signicantly shore up our relationship with India...whom both the Russians and the Chinese are courting to their advantage with trade and military deals of their own.
India is our natural ally in the region, is more powerful than Pakistan, and can help us with both the WOT, and more importantly IMHO< with the emerging threat represented by the PRC. We negate all the good we established with the recent defense talks when we do things like this that shore up and suppor their avowed enemy.
The CIA director has said publicly that they have a good idea where Bin Laden is but, without naming Pakistan, indicated we need better cooperation from another country to get him. Some analysts have blamed the fragility of Musharef's authority for this. The Pakistani intelligence service has a lot of sympathy for Bin Laden. Some have even hypothesized that Bin Laden's death or capture would result in Musharef's overthrown and the creation of a Taliban-like state in Pakistan.
The best option isn't necessarily good. It may just be the least awful.
Why don't we just concede and convert to Islam?
The Muslims HATE us; no matter how many panties we put on their collective heads or military gear we give them, they want us, our families, and our culture DEAD! (or converted.)
Great. Terrorists armed with F-16s and AWACS. Let's start negotiating with Bin Laden next. </sarcasm>
Notice how the MSM thinks everything is a spy plane? Its hard to spy when you are radiating a gigantic radar signal.
Interesting ideas. I think I agree with you. We should definitely be nurturing a friendship with India. The Indian people are our natural allies, and they know the nature of the radical Islamists we're dealing with. IMO I think the natural allies in the future will be:
1. The English-speaking world (U.S., U.K., Australia)
2. India
3. Japan
4. Israel
Pakistan is the one fomenting jihad. I don't like this.
Oops i just realised you have already posted it. Faux pass!
I was talking about this one:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav071105aru.shtml
Oops i just realised you have already posted it. Faux pass!
I was talking about this one:
http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav071105aru.shtml
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.