Author:
Publication: The Indian
Express
Date: November 22, 2000
A top Pakistani general
on Wednesday shrugged off fresh US sanctions on the South Asian nuclear
power's missile technology, saying they would not affect defence exports.
"No, it will not hurt
us. In fact sanctions or embargos have always helped us," Major General
Ali Hamid said. "We are heading towards self-reliance thanks to sanctions,
whether they are fresh or old."
The US State Department
on Tuesday announced that Washington had included Pakistan and Iran under
its Missile Control Technology Regime (MTCR), while removing China.
The move affects various
government agencies that in the past received Chinese assistance.
In Pakistan, two-year bans on the import of certain US technology and awarding
of US government contracts were imposed against the defense ministry, the
Space and Upper Atmospheric Research Commission and related units.
Imports from those agencies into the United States were also cut over the
two-year period.
Pakistan has been under
US sanctions since 1990 over the nuclear issue when Washington slapped
an embargo on military sales and stopped delivery of 28 F-16 planes purchased
by Islamabad in 1989. In 1998 the United States slapped further military
sanctions on Pakistan after it conducted nuclear tests in response to similar
detonations by rival India. Pakistani military ruler General Pervez
Musharraf last week said those sanctions had not retarded Pakistan's defence
industry or hampered arms exports, which reached some 30 million dollars
last year.
He was speaking at a
major international arms show in this southern port city which attracted
defence chiefs from around the world. Hamid said some of the visitors
had shown interest in buying Pakistani weapons and military equipment,
although no deals had been finalised.
"We are planning to expand
our defence marketing around the world in the near future," he said.
"Some African countries have already shown interest in our Al-Zarar tanks."
Pakistan's nuclear-capable Ghouri and Shaheen missiles, developed with
Chinese assistance, were highlights of the show but defence chiefs said
they were not for sale.
Pakistan has refused
to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), saying it must maintain
an effective deterrent against India, which it accuses of trying to impose
military and economic hegemony in the region. Pakistan and India
have fought three wars since independence in 1947 and last year came close
to a fourth during a bitter border conflict in the Kargil area of Kashmir.
A visiting European Union delegation met Musharraf in Islamabad on Monday
and pressed him to sign the CTBT, but was told that "it was not the order
of the day."
AFP
