Islamabad: Pakistan on Sunday rejected an
allegation that it had illegally modified US-made Harpoon
missiles to enhance its ability to attack land targets,
including in India, saying "no modification has been made to
the missiles under reference".
The Foreign Office spokesman "rejected the accusation"
in the report in The New York Times that Pakistan had
illegally modified Harpoon anti-ship missiles, originally
meant for defensive purposes, to strike targets on land.
In a brief statement, the spokesman said "no
modification has been made to the missiles under reference".
The report in the Times said the US administration made
an unpublicised diplomatic protest in late June to Prime
Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and other top Pakistani officials
over the modification of the missiles.
The modified version could "strike land targets" and
posed "a potential threat to India," the report quoted senior
US administration and Congressional officials as saying.
The US has sold a total of 165 Harpoon missiles to
Pakistan. The missiles were provided to Pakistan by the US
administration as a defensive weapon in the Cold War era.
The accusation came at "a particularly delicate time,"
when the US administration is asking Congress to approve USD
7.5 billion in aid to Pakistan over next five years, and "when
Washington is pressing a reluctant Pakistani military to focus
its attentions on fighting Taliban, rather than expanding its
nuclear and conventional forces aimed at India".
After American intelligence agencies detected a
"suspicious missile test" on April 23 that was never announced
by Pakistan, US military and intelligence officials came to
the conclusion that Pakistan had modified the Harpoon
anti-ship missiles, a move that would be a violation of the
Arms Control Export Act.
The report said Pakistan denied the charge, saying it
developed the missile itself. The missile would enable
Pakistan`s small navy to strike targets on land, complementing
a sizable land-based missile arsenal.
The US has also accused Pakistan of modifying
American-made P-3C maritime reconnaissance aircraft for
land-attack missions – another violation of US law that the
Obama administration has protested.
Bureau Report
