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India-Israel close defense cooperation deeply worries Pakistan During Sharon's three-day visit from Monday to Wednesday, India and Israel expressed their resolve to strengthen cooperation in defense as well as in the fight against terrorism. The two sides discussed the one-billion-US-dollar deal for Phalcon airborne early warning systems and the 2.5-billion-dollar anti-ballistic Arrow missiles that India desperately strives for. Both sophisticated systems operate with hi-tech US components and sale of them requires Washington's assent. The Bush administration gave a green light to Israel's transfer of Phalcon spy planes to India on Aug. 11. As far as the Arrow missiles are concerned, Israeli officials said it could be years before New Delhi acquires them because of US concerns about its emerging ties with Pakistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. While Indian officials believe the United States should not object to such a deal since they have already bought Israel's Green Pine radar which tracks incoming ballistic missiles and locks the Arrow onto the target. New Delhi believes that the Arrow missiles, the world's only operational anti-ballistic missiles system, will help it face downthe nuclear threat from Pakistan. Reports say that India with an annual defense budget of around 14 billion dollars is also seeking Israel's electronic warfare systems to arm seven of its front line ships. Israel sells two billion dollars of military equipment annually to India and it is expected to replace Russia as India's major arms provider. India already exercises strong military disparity against Pakistan with an army twice the size, an air force which is three times and a navy which is four times as large as that of Pakistan. The Phalcon systems can simultaneously track up to 60 targets over a radius of hundreds of kilometers to support defensive and offensive operations. Their deployment by India will bring Pakistani airspace under Indian surveillance and gives a huge war fighting advantage to the Indian air force, thus breaking the fragile military balance between the two nuclear rivals which havefought three major wars after their partition in 1947. The close defense cooperation between India and Israel has worried Pakistan and brought about quick response from Islamabad. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister ZafarullahJamali and other senior officials Wednesday held a meeting to discuss Sharon's visit to India, Afghanistan and Iraq issues. Musharraf said that no compromise would be made on his country's defense and all available resources would be allocated for this purpose. The sale of Phalcon systems was a matter of serious concern for Pakistan, he added. Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri Wednesday said that Israel's sale of weapons to India could disturb the balance of power in South Asia. "By visits of that nature in which the primary purpose seems tobe the sale of ultra-modern and strategic weaponry aimed at disturbing the balance of power in South Asia, ultimately it will be the poor people of South Asia who will pay," said Kusuri while visiting Bangladesh. "We do not have any aggressive intention against any country. But we have taken all possible precautions in all fields to defend every inch of our country," he noted. While commenting on Sharon's visit to India, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said if the India-Israel axis was directed against Muslims including Pakistani Muslims, then there was cause for grave concern. He pointed out that the continuing India-Israel defense ties would have a destabilizing effect in theregion. "India's buying anti-ballistic weaponry will disrupt the strategic balance in the region. We do not know what India will dowith all these weapons. Where will it unleash them? Would it be inits immediate neighborhood ...?" said the spokesman. The growing military disparity between the two neighbors is likely to accelerate Pakistan's efforts to take counter measures. Pakistan will raise the issue of India-Israel Phalcon deal at a Sept. 17 meeting of Pak-US defense consultative group in Washington. It is reported that Pakistan is also considering buying airborne early warning systems from the United States as well as an undisclosed number of second-hand F-16 fighters from the Belgian Air Force. Nuclear weapons can be delivered predominantly either with aircraft or with missiles. Pakistan, which tested its nuclear bombs following India in 1998, possesses the F-16 fighters which are likely to be its preferred choice as delivery aircraft. After the United States stopped selling the fighters under the Pressler Amendment in 1990 on the excuse that the capability of the aircraft to be used as nuclear delivery systems made their sale detrimental to the South Asian peace. However, this move taken by Washington turned out to be counterproductive. With a sense of vulnerability, Pakistan has intensified its efforts to develop ballistic missiles to be launched from mobile delivery systems which can easily escape preemptive strikes. To neutralize the potential threat from the increasingly close India-Israel
defense cooperation, Pakistan, which has been committed unreservedly
to the Palestinian cause, now is considering recognition of Israeli.
Such a controversial consideration has triggered a countrywide debate
and the whole nation is almost equally divided. Analysts here believe
that facing the growing military disparity with India, Pakistan is likely
to take all necessary measures to maintain a minimum reliable nuclear
deterrence for its survival, thus unavoidably resulting in acceleration
of arms purchase or an arms race in the sub-continent. |