Arms: Pak seeks more from US

Indicating an arms race, Pakistan has asked the US to supply it airborne radars, F-16s, UAVs and Cobra helicopters ‘‘to restore th...

Indicating an arms race, Pakistan has asked the US to supply it airborne radars, F-16s, UAVs and Cobra helicopters ‘‘to restore the weapons balance’’ in South Asia as India is set to acquire the latest Israeli Phalcon radars systems.

‘‘Pakistan believes that a conventional balance was the key to maintaining peace between India and Pakistan and the nuclear threshold would come down, if this balance was disturbed,’’ Pakistan Defence Secretary retired Lt Gen Hamid Nawaz Khan said on his arrival from Washington after attending the four-day Pak-US Defence Co-ordination Group meet.

Khan who headed the Pakistan delegation was quoted as saying by Dawn that he believes the US also realises that if the conventional capability goes down, it also brings down the nuclear threshold. Khan said he urged the US to consider selling more F-16 jet fighters to Pakistan. Asked as to why Pakistan was so anxious for F-16s, Khan said ‘‘recent Israeli sales to India have disturbed the conventional balance’’.

‘‘We told the Americans that you must restore the balance. We believe that the US should have stopped Israel from selling the Phalcon early warning system to India. But now that the sale is taking place, it is important that the convention balance is maintained. It is absolutely essential for our defence,’’ he said.