Washington: In an indication of the "positive trajectory" of the bilateral ties, the US has issued a waiver, second in six months, for sale of major defence equipment to Pakistan citing national security interest. The waiver issued quietly by the then Deputy Secretary of States Thomas Nides on February 15 and posted on the State Department website a week later on February 22 would pave the way for some major defence equipment sales to Pakistan.
"The Department issued the waiver because we have determined that security assistance is important to the national security interests of the United States and is a critical component of US efforts to continue to build a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with Pakistan grounded in concrete action on areas of shared interest," a State Department spokesperson said.
The waiver, issued within a fortnight of Secretary of State John Kerry taking the reins US diplomacy on February 1, allows for the execution of America's Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme, and for the sale or export of certain Major Defence Equipment (MDE). "Major Defence Equipment," means any US manufactured defence article whose export is controlled by US Munitions List which has a nonrecurring research and development cost of more than USD 50,000,000 or a total production cost of more than USD 200,000,000. These items require Congressional notification, the spokesman said.
"As a matter of policy we do not discuss proposed defence sales or transfers until they have been formally notified to Congress," he said,
10:52 AM, Apr 05, 2013
Vadodara: Gujarat government would encourage industries engaged in manufacturing defence equipment, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday. "We want Gujarat to take lead in making country self sufficient in defence equipment manufacturing as currently even trucks needed for the Army are imported," Modi said. He said Gujarat would encourage setting up of units manufacturing defence equipment and would soon announce a policy to that effect. Referring to the textile...
03:41 AM, Sep 11, 2012
The US on Tuesday agreed to step up efforts to provide defence equipment needed by Pakistan to maintain security along its border with war-torn Afghanistan and to continue discussions on the provision of military aid to Islamabad. ... 
