America has clearly said that Pakistan is not getting any new missiles. In fact, some media reports had claimed that America was going to provide AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) to Pakistan, but the official clarification from Washington has completely put a stop to these rumours.
In a statement issued on October 10, the US Defense Department said, “These reports are absolutely false. There is no provision in the agreement being referred to to provide new missiles to Pakistan.” That means it is clear that no new deal has been signed, only the old maintenance agreement is continuing.
In the last few days, there was a lot of discussion about the relationship between America and Pakistan, especially when Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir met former US President Donald Trump. General Munir is considered a military officer with an aggressive attitude towards India, hence these news created a stir in India also.
But now the American administration has calmed all the speculations. He says that this deal is not a part of any new military partnership, but is related to the maintenance of old agreements. Which involves servicing and updating of already existing equipment, not supply of new weapons.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s army has carried out air strikes on Afghanistan’s capital Kabul. This attack took place at a time when the Afghan Foreign Minister was visiting India. Due to which diplomatic and military tension has once again increased in the entire region.
Defense experts believe that America does not want to move towards any new military alliance in South Asia at this time. Its focus is on strengthening strategic relations with India, while it wants to limit Pakistan to only technical and limited maintenance cooperation.
Overall, this case clearly shows that America is now placing its priority on future partnership with India and is considering the old relations with Pakistan only in the scope of “mechanical maintenance”.