Top diplomats weigh in on US supply of F16s to Pakistan

An F16 aircraft.

For those who use words loosely, the difference between a strategic ally and a strategic partner could not be more telling.

President Joe Biden, by allowing the supply of F16s to Pakistan, has dealt a blow to America’s strategic partner India, proving yet again that there are no permanent friends or enemies — the only thing permanent is national interest.

On September 7, the US agreed to a $450 million fleet-sustainment aid package for the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to upgrade three squadrons of its 65-odd F-16 ‘Fighting Falcon’ fighters. The aim, ostensibly, is to boost Islamabad’s counterterrorism capabilities.

By all available indications, New Delhi was not informed by Washington about its intent to bankroll the PAF’s F-16 retrofit by platform manufacturers Lockheed Martin. Defence experts contend that this retrofit fighter fleet will pose a serious challenge to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

On September 14, defence minister Rajnath Singh registered India’s strong objections to the proposed F16 package sale during a 20-minute telephonic conversation with US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin.

After the announcement, an official of the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) told reporters in Washington — somewhat dubiously — that the $450 million aid for F-16s did not include providing the combat platforms with new capabilities, weapons, or munitions.

Christine Fair, a Security Studies professor at Georgetown University in Washington, whose seminal book Fighting to the End: The Pakistan Army's Way of War, won vast critical acclaim, note: "In all likelihood, the $450 million package to the PAF is payback for Islamabad providing information to Washington that resulted in al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri being eliminated by the US military in a dawn drone strike in downtown Kabul on July 31.”

The drone attack conveniently followed Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director-general, Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum’s visit to Washington in May to discuss undefined `security matters'.

Moneycontrol talked to a clutch of former top-ranking diplomats to assess the ramifications of the Indo-US bilateral relationship, which seemed to be going strong until the Ukraine war and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. The Q&As follow:

G Parthasarathy, veteran diplomat and former Indian Commissioner to Pakistan

President Biden is a confirmed anti-Indian

Q: Why is India reacting the way it is to America supplying F16s to Pakistan?

A: The answer is obvious. As the Balakote strikes demonstrated, the Indian Air Force (IAF) found Pakistani F16s a dicey proposition to handle. The current lot to be supplied to Pakistan are an upgraded F-16, which includes enhancing the fighters’ engine, overall structure, and electronic warfare (EW) capability. Naturally, the IAF has good reason to worry. The only counter to these F16s are Rafales and they have yet to be tested.

In 2018, President Donald Trump had suspended around $2 billion in security aid to Islamabad, including upgrades for its F-16s, for failing to contain the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Islamist terror groups that operated from safe havens across Pakistan. What has changed?

President Joe Biden is a confirmed anti-Indian and pro-Pakistani US politician. There was a time when he travelled all the way from Islamabad to Rawalpindi — as US vice-president, no less — to meet with then Pakistan Army chief Gen. Pervez Kayani. Such is his affection for Pakistani generals.

Q. Is the sweetening of ties between the US and Pakistan linked to Islamabad providing information to Washington that resulted in Ayman al-Zawahiri being eliminated by the US military recently?

A. Without doubt that is the case.

Talmiz Ahmed, former India's ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the UAE

Pakistan, not India, is US’s strategic ally

Q. What do you make of this US decision?

A. Frankly, there is a bit of posturing on both sides. In diplomacy, India always observes strategic autonomy. It believes in taking a decision according to its interest, which is the way it should be. For instance, India did not support the US when it wanted to alienate Russia during the early stages of the ongoing Ukraine war and because New Delhi and Moscow have decades-old ties. India bought Russian oil and the US was disappointed. So why should India expect that the US will not back Pakistan by supplying F16s?

Q. But aren’t the US and India strategic allies?

A. India has close to 40-50 strategic partners in the world, including Rwanda! India is not an American ally by any stretch of the imagination. New Delhi will take its own decision, which makes it non-aligned to a great degree. If anything, Pakistan is America’s strategic ally. It’s a relationship that goes back several decades. In fact, the Pentagon and ISI are closely interlinked. Now that the US is out of Afghanistan, it is a sort of revival of this age-old relationship. Pakistan has delivered considerably for the US, making it a reliable ally of Washington, willing to do its bidding.

Rajiv Bhatia, former ambassador, Distinguished Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies Programme, Gateway House

The world looks different from Washington

Q. What is your take on the sale of US F16s to Pakistan?

A. Well, obviously, it is not a welcome development by any stretch of imagination. But this does not come as a surprise. It has happened in the past as well. India has conveyed its displeasure at the highest level. Defence minister Rajnath Singh has called up US secretary of defence Lloyd Austin and conveyed India’s strong displeasure. I believe we should leave it at that.

Some would argue that the US is India’s strategic partner, not an ally, while the relationship between the Pentagon and the ISI goes back a long way.

Pakistan, since its creation in 1947, has been smart enough to build its equation with America’s defence establishment. It is important to remember that the world looks different from Washington’s eyes. The fact is that we are a strategic partner of the US, not its strategic ally.

KP Fabian, former Indian diplomat, who has served in Madagascar, Austria, Iran, Sri Lanka, Canada, Finland, Qatar, and Italy

This is America’s way of showing displeasure

Q. How do you view the US supply of F16s to Pakistan?

A. This is the American way of showing displeasure. Washington has done it without showing any concern for Indian sensitivities. Despite talk of the fighter aircraft being used by Pakistan for fighting terror in its militancy-hit areas, there is little doubt that it is for use against India. It is also important to remember that the Americans still have interests in Afghanistan and for that they need the support of the Pakistani army.

Q. Has India gone overboard with its reaction?

Well, some reactions are meant for public consumption.