WASHINGTON, D.C. Congressman Ted Weiss (D.NY) today criticized the Bush Administration’s proposal to sell 60 F16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan at a cost of $1.5 billion. In testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Weiss said, “What Pakistan needs is help in solving its chronic¢ economic development problems, not a new infusion of high-tech military aircraft.”
In his testimony, Weiss reiterated his strong support for the new democratic government in Pakistan and especially for its Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto. As Weiss put it, “Pakistan’s return to the family of democratic nations is ‘one of the most significant and hopeful developments in South Asia in recent years.”
“But the United States desire to support democracy in Pakistan and to promote stability in the region is not well served by the Administration’s proposal to sell 60 F16’s to the new government,” argued Weiss.
According to Weiss, the proposed arms sale is likely to upset the recent pattern of improved relations between Pakistan and India, and could lead to a spiraling arms race in South Asia.
Weiss also said that the proposed sale will undercut Prime Minister Bhutto’s ambitious plans to combat the staggering development needs of her country. Weiss noted, “Prime Minister Bhutto’s efforts to meet this challenge will be significantly constrained if she must raise the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary to purchase these new American made F16s,”
Weiss discussed other aspects of the sale as well: its inappropriateness in light of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan; the concerns about the development of nuclear weapons in Pakistan; and the importance of supporting democracy through a greater focus on economic support for the new government.
Weiss concluded his testimony with the following remarks:
In recent months, we have witnessed many hopeful developments in South Asia the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan; the tentative mitigation of the long standing Indo Pakistan rivalry, and most important, the emergence of democracy in Pakistan. These developments should be leading US. policy in a new direction. In Pakistan, that new direction should be focused not primarily on increases in military support, but on strengthening the economy and political structure of this newly democratic friend and ally. The Administration’s proposal to sell Pakistan such an extraordinary amount of new military equipment at such a remarkable cost is leading our policy in precisely the opposite direction.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 11, 1989
