Switzerland approves arms sale to India, says no to Pakistan

GENEVA: While approving the sale of rifles and machine guns to India, the Swiss cabinet has rejected a request for export of replacement parts for anti-aircraft systems to Pakistan due to the unstable political situation.

The cabinet will reconsider its policy if and when other European countries restarted exporting arms to Pakistan, a spokesperson of the Economic Ministry was quoted as saying by the official Swissinfo news website.

Pakistan was the largest buyer of Swiss arms last year.

On Wednesday, the Swiss cabinet also rejected a request for the export of weapons to Egypt and Saudi Arabia because of the unsatisfactory human rights situation in those countries, Swissinfo said.

However, it approved the sale of hundreds of rifles and machine guns to India to equip the police in various parts of the country, and the delivery of parts for air-to-air guided missiles and anti-aircraft guns to South Korea.