‘Different points of emphasis’: US on India, Pakistan ties

INDIA and Pakistan are both partners of the US with different points of emphasis, the Biden administration said Monday (26), a day after visiting External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar questioned the rationale behind the latest American F-16 security assistance to Islamabad.

Referring to the argument made by the US that F-16 sustenance package is to fight terrorism, Jaishankar had said everybody knows where and against whom F-16 fighter jets are used. ‘You're not fooling anybody by saying these things,' he said in response to a question during an interaction with Indian-Americans.

Commenting on the issue at his daily news conference, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US doesn't view its relationship with Pakistan and India as in relation to one another.

‘These are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each. We look to both as partners, because we do have in many cases shared values. We do have in many cases shared interests. And the relationship we have with India stands on its own. The relationship we have with Pakistan stands on its own,' he said.

Early this month, the Biden administration approved a $450 million F-16 fighter jet fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan, reversing the decision of the previous Trump administration to suspend military aid to Islamabad for providing safe havens for the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network.

‘We also want to do everything we can to see to it that these neighbours have relations with one another that are as constructive as can be possible. So that's another point of emphasis,' Price said in response to a question.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also defended the decision to approve the fighter jet programme, saying it is ‘our obligation' to provide military equipment to ensure that the planes are maintained and sustained to bolster Islamabad's capability to deal with ‘clear‘ terrorist threats.

‘This is a sustained program for F-16s that Pakistan has long had. These are not new, this is sustaining what they have,' Blinken said Tuesday in response to questions on the issue.