France suspends arms supply to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India’s concerns about increasing military aid to Pakistan might not bother the Obama administration but the Sarkozy government is apparently taking note.

A report in French newspaper Le Monde claimed that France has decided to suspend the sale of electronics and missiles under pressure from India and due to concerns about Pakistan’s finances and for protecting sensitive technology. The missiles, according to the report, were part of the first segment of a 6 billion euro contract.

“It’s a deal that’s not ready from the Pakistani side,” the report quoted a source at President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office. “For now, the state of the dossier doesn’t allow us to carry on with it.”

The military equipment was for Pakistan’s JF-17 combat aircraft. The Le Monde report also said that a consortium of French company ATE, arms group Thales and missile manufacturer MBDA was supposed to produce the military equipment. The newspaper also noted that France was worried about the lack of protection of its technology as Pakistan wanted to put together the equipment on its soil.

Though the extent to which the Sarkozy government acted under Indian pressure is debatable, India would not be unhappy with this development.

The Obama administration, due to Afghanistan, has continued to increase military aid to Pakistan. India has continued to express concern with the spike in military aid for Pakistan. The concern is that Islamabad will divert the aid and equipment to against India. US congressional reports in the past have noted that US aid meant for taking action against terror groups has been diverted for building up Pakistani military capabilities against India.

Washington, which is keen on building up Pakistan’s military capabilities to take on the Taliban and al-Qaeda, recently promised to expedite the sale of weapons to Pakistan. Washington is planning to supply laser-guided-bomb kits, 12 American-made surveillance drones and 18 late-model F-16 fighters in a bid to upgrade Pakistan’s capabilities to strike against terror targets in tribal areas.

Sources, however, maintained that the US was sensitive to Indian concerns and had assured India that there would be tight monitoring of the military aid and equipment given to Pakistan. ``Our concerns have been expressed about large packages of assistance US has been providing to Pakistan,’’ sources said. India has told the US to ensure that the latest aid is used in fighting al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorists and not India.