During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that his administration is paving the way to provide F-35 stealth fighter jets to India.
The possibility of India acquiring fifth-generation F-35 fighter fighter from the United States in the near future has unsurprisingly rattled Pakistan, with Islamabad expressing concern over the proposed deal, claiming the move will regional military balance, undermine strategic stability, and hinder efforts to achieve lasting peace in South Asia.
“Pakistan is deeply concerned over the planned transfer of advanced military technologies to India. Such steps accentuate military imbalances in the region and undermines strategic stability,” a spokesperson of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in the weekly press briefing on Friday.
The MoFA spokesperson urged Islamabad’s international partners to refrain from taking a “one-sided view that deviates from ground realities”.
“They remain unhelpful in achieving the objective of a durable peace in South Asia. We urge our international partners to take a holistic and objective view of issues of peace and security in South Asia and refrain from endorsing positions that are one sided and deviate from ground reality,” he said.
Trump offers F-35 fighter jets to India
US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that his administration is paving the way to provide F-35 stealth fighter jets to India. Starting this year, we will be increasing military sales to India by many billions of dollars. We are also paving the way to ultimately provide India with the F35, Stealth fighters,” Trump said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi after their bilateral talks.
Following Trump’s announcement, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said a process to start the acquisition of F-35 combat jets from the US has not started yet.
“On military sales to India, there is a process by which platforms are acquired. There is, in most cases, a request for proposals that is floated. There are responses to those. They are evaluated. I don’t think with regard to the acquisition of an advanced aviation platform by India, that process has started yet. So, this is currently something that’s at the stage of a proposal. But I don’t think the formal process in this regard has started yet,” Misri said at the weekly media briefing.
India, US announce new defense initiatives
Apart from a proposed F-35 deal, India and US also announced the Autonomous Systems Industry Alliance (ASIA), a new defense initiative aimed at scaling industry partnerships and enhancing production of autonomous systems which will foster next generation defence and technological collaboration, specifically in the field of underwater domain awareness.
The two nations also discussed expanding military cooperation across various domains, including air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace, with an emphasis on enhanced training, exercises, and operations, incorporating the latest technologies.
(With inputs from agencies)
