US Congress fears Pak could use arms transferred from Iraq against India

Washington, Sep.10 (ANI): The US Congress has raised questions over the Pentagon's proposal to transfer military equipments from Iraq to Pakistan, by questioning whether adequate safeguards existed to ensure that these arms and ammunition do not end up being used by Pakistan against India.

The Congress questioned the 'transfer of articles no longer needed in Iraq' and expressed apprehensions that Islamabad may divert the armaments towards the Indian border.

According to sources, the Pentagon has proposed to transfer US military equipments from Iraq to Pakistan in order to help it counter the extremist threat effectively and step up its operation against the Taliban other militant groups based on its soil.

The Pentagon is also considering to expand the programs under which Washington acquires equipments for Pakistani security forces through other countries or leases them U.S. equipment at nominal rates, The News reports.

Pakistan has long been saying that its forces require more sophisticated arms to take on the extremists in the ground operations in South Waziristan and other Taliban strongholds bordering Afghanistan.

The Pakistan Army is also pushing the Obama Administration to provide the drone technology if not the unmanned aircrafts, so that it could target the militant hideouts itself. (ANI)