MUMBAI: India”s Defense Minister says he has expressed concern during the recent visit of top U.S. officials that Pakistan may misuse U.S. military assistance against India.
Answering reporters after a function in the Indian capital New Delhi on Monday, Defense Minister A.K. Antony said: “We feel there is every possibility of diverting this sophisticated equipment against India.”
He said he had told U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen last week in New Delhi that American arms supplies, aimed at fighting the war on terror, were “disproportionate.”
He sought from Washington the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the use of arms supplies to Pakistan.
Pentagon”s funding for training the Pakistani forces as well as for providing equipment, including F-16 combat jets, missiles, heavy artillery guns and helicopter gunships, is estimated to be worth more than $3 billion this year.
The nuclear-armed South Asian neighboring countries have fought three wars since their partition in 1947.
