The US offer to supply F-16s to Pakistan will affect the ongoing confidence building measures (CBM) between New Delhi and Islamabad, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said today.Speaking after inaugurating the 77th annual general meeting of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, the Minister called the US offer ill-timed as India and Pakistan had been trying to build bilateral relations. He pointed to the repeated entreaties made by India on this issue to the US, including conversations on the phone between US President George Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday last.While India is not interested in an arms race, Mukherjee said all steps will continue to augment defence facilities.On the US argument that Pakistan was a crucial ally on the ‘war on terror,’ the Defence Minister said the F-16s were not for fighting terrorism, but for waging a full-fledged war. ‘‘The previous track record had shown that Pakistan had not fired a single shot towards any other direction, but against India,’’ he said.Earlier, addressing members of the ICC, he said the government that the speeding up the highway programme, the NHDP-IIIA, has been approved. The government has also embarked on a programme for road construction, providing additional investment avenues for private capital, he said. Similarly, he said, the Finance Minister will soon be providing further details of the special purpose vehicle being set up for providing investment capital for infrastructure projects. Premature to comment on F-16 offer to India: PMNEW DELHI: PM Manmohan Singh has said it would be ‘‘premature’’ to comment on the US offer of F-16 and F-18 fighter aircrafts to India.Speaking on the sidelights of the Padma awards investiture ceremony on Monday, Singh said there was an offer from the US for India. ‘‘But we do not yet know the terms and conditions.So it would be premature to comment about it,’’ he said. Asked if whether he was satisfied with the offer, he emphasised, ‘‘We do not know what we will be getting.” —ENS
