Round The World

New Delhi, 1 September 2009

Pak Modifies US Missiles

EYES INDIA, NOT TALIBAN AS THREAT

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

Pakistan attracts attention yet again for its notoriety. According to a New York Times report, both Obama’s senior administration and the US Congressional officials have accused Pakistan of illegally modifying American-made missiles sold for defence purposes. Alarm bells are ringing in New Delhi after this reported military adventurism by Pakistan is largely seen as being directed against India.

The fresh accusation is based on the nature of a suspicious missile test Pakistan conducted on April 23 this year. Islamabad has modified the US supplied Harpoon anti-ship missile to hit land-based targets. The news comes at a crucial period when Islamabad is struggling to maintain stability and continues to ask the Obama administration for increased economic and military assistance. The aid is largely sanctioned as a means to support Pakistan’s fight against terrorism.

However, Islamabad has time and again used the aid, meant for civilian purposes to bolster its military infrastructure. Despite its stated war against terrorism and military operations in the Swat valley, Pakistan’s obsession with India as a threat to its existence holds sway. The recent report may trigger an intense round of arguments and counter-arguments by the US and Pakistan.

According to American officials, the changes are a violation of the US Arms Control Export Act. Since the modifications seem to have been done with India as a target in mind, the near future might not be very bright in terms of India-Pakistan composite dialogue. Moreover, the barrage of domestic criticism that the Manmmohan Singh administration faced after the joint statement at Sharm-el-Sheikh, seems to have hardened New Delhi’s position against Pakistan.

A domestic outcry was witnessed against the UPA Government for being soft on Islamabad’s accusations of New Delhi’s interference in Balochistan. This led to India insisting on Pakistan to take serious and sincere actions against the terror operations being hatched on its soil, particularly Hafiz Saeed, the Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief and mastermind behind the Mumbai attacks. However, with the Lahore High Court ordering the release of Saeed, matters reached a dead-end.

Worse, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik in a flimsy counter-attack based on half-witted reasoning, said that the 26/11 attacks could have been averted had Islamabad got information from New Delhi. But the basic question should be: Is it Delhi or Islamabad that should be forwarding information in case a plan to attack was being hatched in Pakistan? In all this mess, the only silver lining for India has been its success in convincing the Interpol to issue a red corner notice against Saeed.

The latest accusation against Islamabad for tampering with US missiles comes at a critical time when the Obama administration is asking Congress to approve $7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan over the next five years. At the same time, the Obama administration is pressing a reluctant Pakistani military to focus its efforts on fighting the Taliban rather than expanding its nuclear and conventional forces aimed at India.

The latest dispute, according to American officials, is over a conventional weapon, modified from the Harpoon anti-ship missiles that were sold to Pakistan by the Reagan administration as a defensive weapon during the cold war. Nevertheless, the accusations implicitly point to the growing concern in Washington over the speed with which Pakistan is developing new generations of both conventional and nuclear weapons. Analysts believe that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is expanding and being developed in a pace unseen in other countries. In May this year, Pakistan conducted a test firing of its Babur medium-range cruise missile, a weapon that military experts say could potentially be tipped with a nuclear warhead.

Further, huge investments are being pumped into the development of conventional weapons which have no utility in fighting terrorism. The presumed threat from India has been a permanent factor in the formulation of Pakistan’s foreign and security policy since inception. In view of the above, many are critical of the huge aid package being proposed by the Obama administration. The critics are worried about the aid money being misdirected toward furthering the confrontationist posture toward India.

Undeniably, Pakistan has been waging a half-hearted fight against many extremist groups that it had helped breed and nurture. Thus, the critics of the aid package have asked the US Congress to be cautious and objectively view the situation before passing it forward. In another notorious but not a surprising move, a Pakistan court recently ordered the government to lift any remaining restrictions on Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani scientist who is accused to have spread nuclear technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

Clearly, this is a slap in the face of the United States and the international community. A.Q. Khan is still regarded as one of the principle challenges to non-proliferation goals. He is believed to be holding many secrets that could connect the dots and the Is to get a complete picture of the international nuclear black market. If the US is keen to make its proliferation goals more legitimate in the eyes of other nations, then it has to take action and not turn a blind eye to misdeeds of Pakistan-- an ally in the Afghan war.

Apparently, the charge regarding the missiles’ modification was made in an unpublicized diplomatic protest in late June to Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials. Citing another violation of its law, the US has also accused Islamabad of modifying American-made P-3C Orion reconnaissance aircraft for land-attack missions. Obviously, Islamabad has denied any such tampering with American-made weapons and reportedly invited US officials to visit and clear their doubts.

Speaking anonymously,  an official said the American accusation was “incorrect,” and that the missile tested was developed by Pakistan, just as it had modified North Korean designs to build a range of land-based missiles that could strike India. Notwithstanding the alleged origin of the weapon in dispute, the crux of the argument is that Pakistan is indeed investing heavily to develop military infrastructure which can only be explained as directed toward India. The weapon in question would highly enhance the striking capability of the Pakistani navy on land- based targets in India.

This is happening at a time when Pakistan’s primary challenge is to fight terrorism on its own soil and not an illusive threat from India. The rapid rise of the Taliban and its spreading tentacles is what Islamabad should be most concerned about. Hence, it is high time that the Pakistani establishment concentrates on keeping its house in order rather than waste crucial aid money on military infrastructure to provoke India.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)