Hi Mani...I have been following this thread from quite some time....I know this is a Pakistani specific thread and Indians should not poke their nose...Moreove this post was directed to MK...However i could not resist and wanted to share my thoughts so please take the post on merit and ignore the nationality....
Mastan KhanIn some posts you are saying that Pakistan have missed a chance for asking/ demanding more from US after WOT due to some kinda poor strategy and they should have gained more than what they had....Now on the other hand you are saying that US weapons are like sitting ducks against india as Pak couldn't use them i case of war and you are giving the reference of "MR.blake" statement...your own statements contradict with each other coz on one hand you are criticizing Paf procurement of US stuff and at other hand you are emphasizing that Pakistan should have gained more after WOT so when you dont like paf procurement of US stuff than what kind of gains are u talking about?
Sorry but i do not see these two claims by MK as contradictory....I know we are adversaries however if i put myself in a Pakistani shoe i believe you deserve all those toys without any strings attached.... Pakistan was fairly peaceful before she joined WOT and starting 2003 millitancy has taken more lives in Pak then anywhere else...In fact you have lost more troops then US in this war....Even after so much contribution whatever you get is for the fight on terror only(atleast on papers strings are attached)....Now i do not dwell on to why it happened(Pak policies of Past etc) as it will derail the argument and is not necessary...
Bottom line is that even though you have lost more men then Nato(who actually started the conflict) yet you are getting Aid only for the war on terror...You are not getting weapons(atleast on paper) to maintain parity with arch rival India....
So basically Pak administration failed to extract more out of US then they could have...Don't you think so???
I believe somewhere India has played its cards and US-India bonhomie is going to have negative impact on your defence and otherwise....Look Geo-Politics have changed significantly and India-US relations are improving...India is a strong economy and is going to be one for considerable time...Moreover only other competitor to China who is turn is considered as only other competitor to US...So you see India is important in US eyes for a longer term....
If you look around we have strong economy ...some indigenous capacity(is improving considerably) and all the possible Arms Supplier(Russia, Israel, US, EU) lining up to see us state of art weapons....we are the world largest importer of weapons and going to be for significant time before we can replace Exports with Indigenous capability....On the other hand Pak economy is not doing good....very little indigenous capacity and limited offers from world leaders when it comes to arms... Apart from China there is nothing much which do not have strings attached....
Now if we just compare our Air-Forces then look at the inductions that are being planned for both of them....We already have 100+ MKI's when you are still locking deals for JF17 Avionics....Tejas, MRCA and FGFA are our future inductions and work is going on....Doesn't that speak volumes about the situation that PAF has to deal with????
I think what you are facing is what India was facing when China was growing at a rapid pace and we were on the verge of bankruptcy in 1990's.....Such was the state of disparity that we did not bother to improve infrastructure on our side because we feared that it will help China more than us!!!!!...and now the infrastructure development is going full swing...That speak volumes about today's India...and if you see we have fairly peaceful borders with China...And now with strong economy backed by new importance in geo-politics we are playing catching game with them...Not only that our engagement with China is more than $60 billions which makes a conflict double edge sword for both.....I think what you guys need is plenty of time to recover from your shabby economy, play geo-politics well and definitely have peace with India....
Do you wanted PAF to get F-18 or f-15 at best ? So arnt these machines prone to same embargoes that are attached with f-16's
Now coming to your second point of Paf relying on Chinese stuff which is not as good as US then tell me where should we go? you are not happy with US tech , you are not happy with chinese one (who by the way are more reliable than anyone in the world ) so tell me where should PAF go and you are your self excepting that either no other country will provide it or either we are not able to afford
Third point regarding saab-2000 ....here you are praising musharaf for signing a deal with China when you already have kinda degraded chinese stuff (sorry if my words seems to b bit harsh or rash)
As far as your point regarding PAF and some of the corruption is concerned i totaly agree you at that but....
I honestly have no answer to it.....Experts would know better..However i can give one example from India's diplomacy....We did not recognize Israel till 90's with the fear of backlash from Middle East...Then we realized our mistake and today they are one of our top arms supplier(state of art)....We did this even after having almost same(if not more) Muslim population that you have and today not only we are friends with Middle East but with Israel as well......Now how/what you wanna do only you guys will decide however you got to change with the world....
India's official position is that she being friends to both can help solve the issue....See the beauty of diplomacy here..Both Israel and Palestine consider us as their good friends....
Regarding the question about Pakistan and India friendship for the purpose of peace... it is next to impossible coz its the clash of ideologies and the clash of identities and where people indulge in factor lyk these there is no way out.....Let me tell u a thing India want to go in UN for permanent member and Pakistan is the biggest opposer of this ...Lets suppose for an instance we become friends ...then do you think Pakistan will not oppose after friendship and peace? the answer is a big NO? this is because the distrust we have ....For us who knows they will backbite us after getting their purpose fullfilled... Thats the history of distrust and blunders we have sir ....And this is only a single example there are lot of others existing
There you go wrong....Look at India-China equation....We got a beating from them in 62...We have distrust and we know that we are only two competitors in Asia yet we have good relations...$60 billion worth of trade is helping our masses....As far as UN seat is concerned then US-China both have reservations to it yet our relations are good(improving) with them....If you see closely it is not clash of ideologies..It can't be because we are same people....It is only animosity and hatred which is getting better of us...Anyways even if not for goodwill i believe it is in Pakistan's best interests to have good relations with India....
India is fine with status quo in Kashmir...Tri-Flag is still on Siachen and your lifeline(water) comes from Indian land...Please don't take these as flame baits....What i am trying to say is as long as there is no militancy in Kashmir India won't care if the dispute is resolved or not...However not the same with Pakistan...You have tried to solve it militarily but failed(X-Y-Z reasons i don't care)...If i understand geo-politics correctly then disparity between India and Pak was less in those wars then what it is today...So Armed conflict won't help you either...
In short having good relations with India is the need of the hour for Pakistan...not vice-versa....Good relations with India will buy you much needed time to improve your economy...once your economy is sound you will see people willing to sell you what you need and you would be able to fund your indigenous programs as well.....Better relations with India will take your markets a new high and you will reach a point of no-return for a significant time....