Out of 27, Pakistan has received delivery of 24 two-engine Bell helicopters in support of war on terrorism, said Ambassador Jehangir Karamat on Tuesday. Pakistan would get eight P-3C Orion aircraft and TOW missiles, he said in response to a question in a periodic meeting with Pakistani journalists at the Pakistan Embassy here. About Pakistan-US Defence Consultative Group (DCG) meetings, he said the DCG met in Islamabad recently, taking stock of the bilateral defence relations.
It also reviewed the international military education and training requirements in keeping with Pakistan's needs, he added.
To a query, Karamat made it clear that Pakistan did not want any arms race, and added: "We, instead, remain interested in maintaining our deterrence and defence capability.
"We don't want to compete or match with India," he emphatically stated.
The ambassador said the United States, which had separate relationships with Pakistan and India, must see to the positives and the negatives involved, and adjudge as to which defence systems could trigger imbalance in the region.
A journalist referred to the recent press reports about F-16s and India, Jehangir Karamat said Pakistan's interest in F-16s was "because we already had such aircraft." According to press reports, India reportedly had a weapons purchase programme of 95 billion dollars, during the next 15 years, and that it was interested in high performance Mirages, S.U. series or Griffons.
With the dialogue process going on, Ambassador Karamat said Pakistan and India were trying to keep Baghliar dam as a distinct issue, "because it is under a specific treaty."
Asked as to what was the status of Baghliar, he said Pakistan had provided documentary proof to the World Bank and now it was up to the bank to proceed stepwise.
Initially, he said, Pakistan tried its utmost to resolve Baghliar difference through bilateral means. "Once all available avenues were exhausted, we had no way out but to contact the World Bank, from which we had the assurance that it would proceed according to the laid out provisions of the treaty."
Asked what were Pakistan's objections, Jehangir Karamat said these related to "water storage capacity, height and gate designs"; and that "our experts feel the dam was violative of the spirit of the Indus Basin Treaty."
An official, present on the occasion, told journalists that the World Bank was not a guarantor, but a third party in the matter. He further said that even the phase one of the Baghliar dam had not been completed.
In an informal chat, a reference to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) report and the recent National Intelligence report was made, and it was pointed out that by 2020, India would be a major power.
To a question on Pakistan, Jehangir Karamat said that "Pakistan is destined to progress and prosper, becoming a powerful nation.
"The international institutions portray a positive outlook of Pakistan," he told a journalist.
"You are talking of the past," was his spontaneous and terse response to a question on claims to the contrary.
At the outset, The Pakistan Ambassador to the United States disclosed that Senator Hillary Clinton would lead a group of US Senators on a visit to Pakistan shortly, during which they would meet high officials. Former US president Bill Clinton is also likely to accompany the delegation.
The ambassador, who has continued his meetings with the US Senators and Congressmen, said that "this interaction has been immensely useful in exchanging views on matters of bilateral interest."
He said he had met Senators Richard Lugar (R - Indiana), Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island), who is Chairman of the South Asia Sub-Committee.
He said he had also held meetings with Congressman Tom Lantos (D-California) and Rep. Joseph Pitts (R- Pennsylvania).
The Pakistan Ambassador said that his meetings with the US Senators and Congressmen were courtesy calls, and that it was "an ongoing process."
Asked what subjects came up under discussion, he said ongoing war on terrorism, Pakistan-Afghanistan, Pakistan-India and Pakistan-US relations, floods in Balochistan and avalanches in the Northern Areas of Pakistan were some of the topics discussed, besides review of bilateral matters of interest.
He disclosed that Senate Chairman Mohammadmian Soomro; State Bank of Pakistan Governor Dr Ishrat Hussain; Federal Education Minister General Javed Ashraf Qazi (retd), and Financial Advisor Salman Shah are scheduled to undertake visits of the United States.
The Chairman Senate will arrive on February 19, and will visit Boston, New York and Houston.
The Federal Education Minister is likely to visit from March 13 to 18.
The State Bank Governor, during his visit, will have speaking engagements, including the one at the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Scholars on Pakistan's economy.
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