India and Pakistan are both partners of the US with different points ofemphasis, the Biden administration said Monday, a day after visitingExternal Affairs Minister Jaishankar questioned the rationale behind thelatest American F-16 security assistance to Islamabad.
This was stated by US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price during theState Department’s press briefing.
He was responding to a reporter’s question regarding the comment made byIndian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar asking the US to review itsrelations with Pakistan and criticized the Biden administration forauthorizing $450 million for the F-16 program.
Jaishankar had that said everybody knows where and against whom F-16fighter jets are used. “You’re not fooling anybody by saying these things,”he said in response to a question during an interaction withIndian-Americans.
“We don’t view our relationship with Pakistan, and on the other hand, wedon’t view our relationship with India as in relation to one another. Theseare both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each,” NedPrice told reporters at his daily news briefing.
“We look to both as partners, because we do have in many cases sharedvalues. We do have in many cases shared interests. And the relationship wehave with India stands on its own. The relationship we have with Pakistanstands on its own,” he said.
Read Top Stories
Earlier this month, the Biden administration approved a $450 million F-16fighter jet fleet sustainment programme to Pakistan, reversing the decisionof the previous Trump administration to suspend military aid to Islamabadfor providing safe havens for the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network.
“We also want to do everything we can to see to it that these neighbourshave relations with one another that are as constructive as can bepossible. So that’s another point of emphasis,” Price said in response to aquestion.
Responding to another question if Pakistan aided the Taliban in a way thatallowed them to come into Kabul, Price said, “it was not in Pakistan’sinterest to see instability and violence in Afghanistan. It is not inPakistan’s interest to see instability and violence in Afghanistan.”
“The support for the people of Afghanistan is something we discussregularly with our Pakistani partners; our efforts to improve the lives andlivelihoods and humanitarian conditions of the Afghan people, and to see toit that the Taliban live up to the commitments that they have made,” headded.
