Ivanov rules out Russia's arms sale to Pakistan

Asian Political News, June 16, 2003

ISLAMABAD, June 15 Kyodo

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on Sunday ruled out any military weapons sales to Pakistan, saying his country supports a ''political solution and not a military solution'' to conflicts between Pakistan and India.

''We are not planning or striving to contribute to an arms race in the region,'' as happened during the Cold War when the Soviet Union supplied weapons to India and the United States to Pakistan, Ivanov told a press conference with Pakistani Foreign Minister Khrushid Mehmood Kasuri.

During his visit to Moscow in February, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf discussed the possibility of purchasing Russian military hardware, particularly Russian aircraft for the Pakistan Air Force.

Ivanov was asked if Russia would reconsider the supply of weapons to India or consider similar supplies to Pakistan to create a conventional weapons balance between Pakistan and India.

''We are supporting a political solution to the conflicts between Pakistan and India, not a military solution... We would use relations with India and those being developed with Pakistan to support a dialogue,'' he said.