-Caveat Lector-
>From http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/jan2002-daily/11-01-
2002/main/main2.htm
}}}>Begin
Friday January 11, 2002-- Shawaal 26,1422 A.H.
ISSN 1563-9479
Editor: Shaheen Sehbai
NEWS UPDATE
Pakistan wants its airbases back
Pasni and Jacobabad now in joint use of Pak-US air forces
By Kamran Khan
KARACHI: As the tension peaked on the borders coupled with Indian Air
Force decision to move its ground attack and fighter squadrons to
forward bases late last month, Pakistan quickly moved elements of its
air force into the air bases at Jacobabad and Pasni to co-share the
facilities with the United States forces, ending about three month
long exclusive use of these airports by the US military, well placed
Pakistani officials said.
The United States authorities are still allowed exclusive use of the
airstrips at Dalbandin and Al-Shamsi in Balochistan. Army and Air
Force special operations teams of the US military, besides troops
from 101st Airborne division, are currently posted at four Pakistani
bases to conduct combat, search and rescue operations inside
Afghanistan.
Officials said Jacobabad and Pasni are two of the many operational
bases used by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in all emergencies and the
recent Indian military mobilisation forced Pakistani military leaders
to requisition both airports from the US Central Command, a decision
that triggered urgent top- level military consultations between the
Pakistani and the US military commanders.
"It was such an emergency situation that Pakistan Air Force was ordered to move
straight into the airports while the discussions with the US officials on this subject
were held later," said a senior official. He added: "T
he US military was not delighted but it had no doubt that Pakistan required both bases
to meet the war-like situation with India."
Pakistani officials said the PAF needed an exclusive use of both facilities, but it
agreed to let some important elements of the US forces stay and co-share most of the
facilities at Jacobabad and Pasni airbases with PAF
after the military leaders of the two countries held extensive behind-the-scene
discussions.
The co-sharing of all the facilities at the Jacobabad and Pasni airports was the
centrepiece of sensitive discussion held between the US Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
General Richard Myers and his counterpart General Moh
ammad Aziz Khan and the Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi late last month,
officials said.
Before reaching Rawalpindi, officials said, for a hurriedly arranged meeting with
General Aziz Khan while President General Pervez Musharraf was visiting China, General
Richard Myers had made an unpublicised visit to the
Jacobabad airport where he met the US officers and inspected the facility.
Pakistani officials have underlined that they were forced to reclaim the two airports
mainly because of the Indian preparations for war with Pakistan, a development
independently confirmed by the Pentagon. Just one month
before the military build-up on the borders, officials said, Pakistan was so
comfortable with the United States military presence in the country that it had
allowed extended stay of the US military in Pakistan by giving p
ermission to the US central command to improve infrastructure at the Jacobabad
airport, a project that would have cost several million dollars to the US military.
A US-sponsored multi-million dollar construction and repairs work was in progress when
the Pakistan Air Force moved some of its resources to the Jacobabad and Pasni airports
10 days ago. Pakistani officials noted that the
Indian military build-up strained the US political and military objectives in
Afghanistan as it forced Pakistan not only to restrict the US military activities out
of Jacobabad and Pasni, it also prompted Pakistani autho
rities to move a big chunk of its troops from the provinces of NWFP and Balochistan to
its eastern borders.
Dalbandin airstrip, though not used for commercial purposes, offers extensive Boeing
compatible runway, besides reasonable parking and related services. Dalbandin airport
had been raised in late eighties with Saudi financ
ial assistance, as Saudi and other Gulf states princes frequent this desert
Balochistan town during bird hunting seasons.
Troops presence in the provinces bordering Afghanistan and relaxed situation at
borders with India before December 13 had allowed Pakistan Army to carry out an active
anti-terrorist operation against fleeing Al-Qaeda supp
orters in the tribal areas of the NWFP. During the same period Pakistan Army
commissioned its Special Services Group (SSG) to raid suspected al- Qaeda hideouts in
the tribal areas.
While most military analysts are attributing Pakistan's decision to demand extensive
use of Jacobabad and Pasni airports and thinning out of the troops from the borders
with Afghanistan to country's military operational r
equirements, some military analysts have guessed that Pakistan moved a little faster
than required to reclaim facilities from the US forces to express its uneasiness to a
decision by the US central command to relocate its
aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk, a move by the US military that provided hostile Indian
navy a vacant corridor in the sea to make an approach to Pakistani waters.
"In the present state of relationship we wouldn't expect the US military to make a
move to Indian advantage," a military analyst said. This analyst shares perception in
a small quarter of military thinkers in Pakistan tha
t the US has not yet used its leverage with India to discourage the military build- up
despite knowing fully well that the Musharraf administration was committed to strike
out all forms of religious extremism from Pakista
n.
Before Pakistan's decision to co-share Jacobabad and Pasni airports with the US forces
10 days ago, several hundred US armymen were housed in 42 aircraft hangars at the
Jacobabad airport, 300 miles northeast of Karachi, w
here the US military had installed its own radar equipment at a premises that was used
as air traffic control facility by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The coastal town of Pasni, 180 miles west of Karachi, where more than a dozen US
military helicopters were seen parked at the airport last week, is providing the
nearest ground facility to a large US naval flotilla now st
ationed in the Arabian Sea for aerial raids against Afghanistan.
Pakistani officials say that the PAF may want to use the Pasni
airport, in case of war with India, to interdict Indian naval and
commercial activity in the India Ocean. While the Pakistani air force
presence may restrict to some extent the US military activities out
of Jacobabad and Pasni airports, the US central command would still
have an exclusive access to Dalbandin airbase, 170 miles southwest of
Quetta and only 20 miles away from Afghan border which served as a
forward base for the US forces for special operations in southern
Afghanistan.
End<{{{
From
http://www.khilafah.com/1421/category.php?DocumentID=3059&TagID=2
}}}>Begin
News / Reportage
China Sends 'Several Squadrons' Of Brand New Jets To Pakistan
KARACHI - In an historic, but, unannounced development, the Peoples
Republic of China sharply reduced a marked imbalance between the
Indian and Pakistan Air Force by sending five ships -- in a space of
only 10 days late last month -- loaded with cargo ranging from
cartons of unassembled brand new combat aircraft and a variety of air
force-related weapons and equipment to the port in Karachi, senior
Pakistani officials confirmed.
Separately the Chinese government made a speedy delivery of spares
and related equipment for Pakistan's strategic assets through
Korakram highway, a little before the snow created major obstacles on
this crucial communication line between Pakistan and China before
Christmas. Pakistan's extensive missile defence system has been
raised with an active support of the Chinese government.
The senior officials said that in an unprecedented gesture of
friendship to Pakistan, the Chinese government had sent the ships
sailing for Karachi before President General Pervez Musharraf met
Chinese President Jiang Zemin for a crucial dialogue that coincided
with the peak of border tension between Pakistan and India on
December 21.
On more than one occasion during President Pervez Musharraf's visit
to China in December, the Chinese leadership reiterated that China's
friendship with Pakistan "was deeper than the oceans and higher than
the mountains." This timely assistance from China that instantly
enhanced the combat capability of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) by
"several squadrons of brand new Super-7 and F-7 fighter aircraft"
also narrowed a dangerous 1:2 ratio of air force planes between India
and Pakistan.
Before the Chinese assistance reached Pakistan last week, the Indian
Air Force had 730 aircraft as compared to PAF's 340. Because of the
military security reasons, Pakistani officials are withholding the
exact number of fighter aircraft added to the PAF with Chinese
assistance in the last few weeks.
For the last several years, the Aviation Industry of China and the
Aviation Integrated Company of Pakistan had been working on a joint
plan to build a light- weight multipurpose fighter aircraft. The
project was completed late last year with production ready in time
for shipment to Pakistan.
Pakistani military officials consider the proposed S-7 fighter
aircraft as a variant of China's F-7 fighter plane family, but with
an increased manoeuvrability, an engine with increased thrust,
advanced avionics equipment and modern cockpit configuration. These
officials said the S-7 has night combat capability. The integrated
close range combat effectiveness of the S-7 is 90 per cent higher
than that of the original F-7 family.
Before the arrival of PAF cargo from China late last month, the air
force had arrangements ready to shift the unassembled aircraft from
the Karachi port to various PAF facilities where Pakistani and
Chinese officials worked together to assemble and deploy them in a
record time.
The Pakistani officials noted that since coming to power, President
General Pervez Musharraf has developed extremely close personal ties
with Chinese President Jiag Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji. Because of
the Indian ban on Pakistan to use its air space, the officials said,
Premier Rongji had personally desired that President Musharraf should
take the trip after an overnight stopover in Beijing on board a
Chinese government aircraft as Chinese pilots were better trained to
fly in that difficult airspace and weather. Before leaving for the
SAARC summit, President Musharraf had taken a special meeting on the
PAF preparedness in the wake of the Chinese assistance.
According to the Pakistani officials, after the recent induction, the
PAF has developed increased capacity in the event of war to interdict
Indian naval and cargo vessels in the Indian ocean, besides devoting
more resources to strike Indian military targets in its key cities
and cantonments.
Source: Jang
End<{{{
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