ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday warned that the US-India Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) will have serious repercussions for peace and stability in South Asia, ARY News reported.
“Pakistan has been consistently highlighting the threats posed to strategic stability in South Asia as a result of provision of advanced military hardware, technologies and knowledge to India,” the FO statement read.
The statement further added that India’s massive acquisition of armaments and expansion of its nuclear forces, including the introduction of new destabilizing weapon systems, are developments with serious repercussions for peace and stability in South Asia.
“The recent unprecedented rate of missile tests conducted by India is yet another manifestation of dangerous Indian conventional and nuclear military build-ups,” the foreign office said.
“It again corroborates concerns expressed by several international experts on the military spin-offs of conducting high technology trade with India, which has not only eroded the international norms but has also resulted in negatively affecting the strategic stability in South Asia,” according to a press release issued by the foreign office.
These developments, clearly negate the argument that India’s mainstreaming in the international export control regimes will further the non-proliferation objectives of these regimes.
Earlier today, the United States and India had signed a pact to share sensitive satellite and map data as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned of the “threat posed by an increasingly assertive China”.
Read More: US signs military pact with India
Pompeo, who arrived in New Delhi on Monday along with Defense Secretary Mark Esper, said after talks with their Indian counterparts that the two countries had to work together to confront the threat China posed to security and freedom.
The United States planned to sell more fighter planes and drones to India, Esper added. The pact will give India access to a range of topographical, nautical and aeronautical data that is considered vital for targeting of missiles and armed drones.
It would also allow the United States to provide advanced navigational aids and avionics on U.S.-supplied aircraft to India, an Indian defence source said.
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