India vs. US on F-16s for Pakistan

S Jaishankar questioned the US’s decision to supply F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. Here’s what America said in its defence...

Transcript

00:00the U.S. relationship with Pakistan and the military relationship that the U.S. has had.

00:09Now, you all know that this is not something of recent making. It has gone on for many years.

00:13Well, we don't view our relationship with Pakistan. And on the other hand,

00:17we don't view our relationship with India as in relation to one another.

00:33Very honestly, it's a relationship that has neither ended up serving Pakistan well,

00:40not serving American interests well.

00:42The relationship we have with India stands on its own. The relationship we have with Pakistan

00:49stands on its own. We also want to do everything we can to see to it that

00:54these neighbors have relations with one another that are as constructive as can be possible.

01:02So it is really for the United States today to reflect whether this, you know,

01:09what are the merits of this relationship? What do they get by keeping it sort of continuing?

01:18It would be difficult for me to attempt to summarize 20 years of U.S.-Pakistani relations

01:24between 2001 and 2021. I suppose what I would say broadly, of course, is that Pakistan was not

01:31a monolith during that time. We saw different governments and we saw, with the passage of years,

01:37different approaches to the Taliban and to Afghanistan at the time.

01:44At the end of the day, you know, for someone to say, I'm doing this because it is for

01:51counter-terrorism, when you are talking of an aircraft like the capability of the F-16,

01:57I mean, everybody knows, you know, where they are deployed and what is the use and what is

02:02their capability. And it is not in Pakistan's interest to see instability and violence in

02:08Afghanistan. The support for the people of Afghanistan is something we discuss regularly

02:15with our Pakistani partners, our efforts to improve the lives and livelihoods,

02:22humanitarian conditions of the Afghan people, and to see to it that the Taliban live up to

02:31the commitments that they have made.

02:34You know, you're not fooling anybody by saying these things. So, the point is, we really think

02:42countries finally make their choices based on their own interests. And I would make a case,

02:49if I were to speak to an American policymaker, I would really make a case saying, look,

02:55what you are doing, forget about us for a moment. It's actually not good for you,

02:59what you are doing, reflect on the history, look at the last many years of where this

03:04relationship has taken you and what a cost you have paid for it.

03:09These are both partners of ours with different points of emphasis in each. And we look to both

03:17as partners because we do have in many cases, shared values. We do have in many cases,

03:24shared interests. And the relationship we have with India stands on its own,

03:30the relationship we have with Pakistan stands on its own. Pakistan is implicated in many of

03:35these same commitments, the counterterrorism commitments, commitments to safe passage,

03:41commitments to the citizens of Afghanistan, the unwillingness or the inability on the part of

03:49the Taliban to live up to these commitments would have significant implications for Pakistan as

03:58well. And so for that reason, we do share a number of interests with Pakistan regarding its neighbor.