Citing Indian purchases, China justifies arms sales to Pakistan

A senior defence official here has justified China's sale of warships and submarines to Pakistan on the ground that India was buying similar systems from Russia and the US.

He indicated that China was conscious India might be worried about the sales.

"The initiative may invite concerns from its neighbouring countries. But the doubts are unnecessary," Online news agency Wednesday quoted Zhai Dequan, deputy director of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, as saying in the official media.

The statement came in the midst of efforts by Admiral Noman Bashir, Pakistan's navy chief, to persuade Beijing to sell higher capacity ships as compared to the F22P frigates that China begun delivering last June.

Zhai said the demand was normal for a nation seeking to bolster its security adding India has also entered into large deals for military hardware from the US and Russia.

"India's aircraft carrier has already cost it billions of US dollars," Zhai said in a reference to the Admiral Gorshkov that India has purchased from Russia.

Bashir, who met Chinese Defence Minister Liang Guanglie on Friday, said Pakistan was keen on buying bigger ships and more JF-17 fighter planes from China, apart from submarines. Pakistan will buy more weapons including missiles from China in future, he said.

"The F22P frigate is of about 3,000 tonnes and now we are talking about 4,000 tonne ships. These are very big projects and we think the cooperation is important for both countries, especially Pakistan," Bashir maintained.

Pakistan booked four F22P frigates from China in 2005 and the first one began sea trials last year. Islamabad followed it up with another order of four more ships of same kind in 2007, the Chinese media said.

Bashir showered fulsome praise on Chinese warships saying they use the latest technology and have all-round capability to target surface ships, aircraft and submarines.

"The F22P frigate can be deployed to perform multiple tasks. The ship is balanced for offence and defence and can be used in both peace and wartime," he said.

This is Bashir's third visit to China this year.

Last updated on Dec 23^rd, 2009 at 16:48 pm IST--IANS