I think that the new Mig29’s are for the Gorshkov, the navalised LCA is meant to be for the indeginous Air Defence Ship (carrier).

India is obviously engaged in the LCA, MRCA and MCA. Is the MCA being developed with the Russians? Surely only two out of the three programmes can survive or MCA-MRCA merged into one?

Aziz

Judging by your comments and links Barbarian I presume that you are of Afghan decendence and that your relatives living in Peshawar are also Afghan – presumably refugees. Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghans as refugees, i have never met an Afghan who has been grateful that Pakistan took so many destitute Afghans!!

I think for you to criticise the living conditions in Pakistan is absurd considering your family have stayed there and received aid.

It’s all relative of course, i don’t think Afghanistan is a particularly pleasant place – that’s about as polite as i can be about it.

Regarding your point about Pakistan having nuclear bombs so no one will attack, it is all very well having them but it’s pointless not having the means to deliver it. A good analogy would be 1979 when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, you would have been just as unable to defend yourselves even if you had nuclear weapons if you didn’t have the missles able to launch them.

Aziz

Pakistan is getting $1.5Bn military aid from the US over the next 5 years, much of this has already been spent.

Nearly all of the funding for F-16’s will come from Pakistan’s own resources.

Pakistan is apparently seeking 75 F-16 Block 52’s, 11 old A/B with MLU and and MLU for the 32 surviving F16A/B’s.

Aziz

Vikraal i think you’ll find it’s common practice for all militaries to purchase foreign items on a credit/long term finance basis. Even the mighty India operates on such a basis.

I think any enhanced co-operation between the RN and PN is excellent.

Aziz

This piece is relevant as it accurately shows Pakistan’s improved financial position, which in additional to American goodwill is going to result in substantial improvements in in the PAF –

External debt registers significant decline: adviser

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s external debt and liabilities, which were over 52 percent of the GDP five years back, have come down to 37 percent last year and are expected to decline further by the end of current financial year.

“External debt and liabilities which were 22-times of foreign exchanges reserves in 1998-99 have come down to 2.8 times last year”, Advisor to finance Ministry Dr Ashfaque Hasan Khan told APP in an exclusive interview.

Dr Ashfaque expressed the hope debt would further come down by the end of this year. He said external debt and liabilities as percentage of foreign exchange earnings were 335 percent of the GDP in 1998-99, which had come down to 164.5 percent in the year 2003-04 and are expected to decline further by the end of current financial year.

As a result of the pursuance of the debt reduction strategy, Pakistan’s debt situation is now on the solid downward footing and fast approaching at a sustainable level, he remarked.

Dr Khan said public debt, which was over 100 percent of the GDP in 1998-99 came down to 68.8 percent last year (2003-2004) and is expected to come down further by 64 percent by the end of current financial year.

He said “we are now witnessing acceleration in the GDP growth consistently in the last three years”.

Notwithstanding major progress “we have made over the last fiver years including Pakistan emerging as one of the fastest growing economies of Asia, there are many challenges still lying ahead”.

The most important challenge included sustaining the current growth momentum translating the economic gains to the common people at a much faster pace, he added. In the financial year 2002-03 the growth rate achieved was 5.1 percent while in 2003-04, he said, it grew by 6.4 percent and this year its is expected to grow at the rate of over 7 percent.

About expected growth rate for the current financial year, he said, “all available information suggests we will exceed the 7 percent growth this year”. How to sustain this growth will be a challenge for us, he remarked.

Dr Khan said in the forthcoming budget outlay will be over Rs one trillion and efforts will be made to address the challenge.

“We will try to create even more conducive environment for private sector development and therefore the focus of forthcoming budget will be pro-investment and pro-growth”, he remarked.

In the budget, he said, government will be focusing more on the economic growth in order to create more jobs and employment opportunities in the country, he added.

He said growth would also increase the income of the people and help improve their living standards.

The enhanced economic growth is likely to increase the per-capita income of the people, he said adding, the growth in the economy will give the government more public resources and tax collections helping it to spend more on education, health, other social welfare sectors.

The advisor on finance said East Asian countries grew their GDP by 7 percent to 8 percent on sustained basis for more than two decades, which helped them to resolve their problems including poverty. “We are also targeting 7 percent to 8 percent growth in the next five years “, he remarked.

Dr Khan said, “If we succeed in attaining this growth Pakistan will be much different from it is today”.

He said government wanted to translate the gains of growth at much faster pace to the people in the country. “We need to quicken the process”, he remarked. app

Aziz

Syed you are quoting from a Flight International Special on PAF, this is some years old now and with the excellent news on the F-16’s along with the likelihood of a typical Indian response (panic buying – encouraged by a scare-mongering media) these plans will have changed.

Contrary to popular belief, Pakistan does have money to spend, although it is looking to buy a lot i.e. Al Khalid production will be doubled this year (plus an updated version in 2007), Orions, F-16’s, JF-17’s, Erieyes, Frigates, potentially another batch of subs, new SAM’s, various light naval craft, Cn-235’s, C130’s, AH1’s, Mi17’s, APC’s – the US is only providing $1.5Bn, we are likely to get ‘friendship terms’ for Chinese systems and we may expect some help from friendly Arab countries but most of the funding will come from ourselves.

Pakistan definitely wants to purchase a 4th generation fighter in addition to F-16’s, I think these plans have beem merely delayed by a few years. PAF is seeing F-16’s an interim aircraft until more funding becomes available and either a mature J-10 or Gripen is available/funding available in 2008/9 with deliveries beginning two years from then.

Just my thoughts.

Aziz

I think Israel might disagree.

Aziz