United States President Donald Trump on Monday confirmed that he intends to sell F-35 fifth-generation multirole fighter jets to Saudi Arabia despite some concern expressed by the administrative officials that the sale could lead to China gaining access to sensitive US tech, raising security challenges for New Delhi.
China is alleged to have reverse-engineered hundreds of pieces of US defence equipment over a period of a few decades, bringing Beijing's capabilities on a par with its enemy.
Beijing is just one hindrance; the real concern for New Delhi at present stems from the Pakistan-Saudi joint defence agreement, which would allow the Pakistani military and its air force to gain direct operational access to highly sophisticated air force technology.
The latest defence development poses a strategic risk for New Delhi, as the deal would allow Saudi and Pakistani armed forces to train on US equipment without any strings attached.
The parts of the defence deal must raise alarm bells in New Delhi regarding potential military technology transfers to Pakistan through Saudi Arabia.
It must be noted that the United States has recently adopted a more lenient approach towards Pakistan, especially with its military leadership.
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The latest defence deal between Riyadh and Washington could potentially enable Pakistan to indirectly acquire some of the most advanced US military equipment, possibly funded by Saudi Arabia.
The move would help Islamabad’s modernisation ambitions without putting a strain on its struggling economy and pose an additional challenge to the Indian security apparatus. While capable of handling the threat, policymakers must focus on strengthening operational capabilities.
In the past, Riyadh has maintained a degree of neutrality in India-Pakistan wars and incidents of the confrontations, like in May this year.
However, the joint defence pact between the countries no longer leaves a scope for Saudi neutrality in case of a future war.
The warming relations between Islamabad and Washington are further signalling a possible shift in the US policy towards the South Asia region.
India is struggling to enhance the production of the LCA Tejas fighters, which have faced several delays over the past few years.
In addition, the fifth-generation AMCA fighter has not seen any development despite being on paper for many years.
Trump recently offered the same F-35 fighter jets to India; however, the defence ministry so far has shown the least interest in Trump’s offer and rightly so, since it would have cost billions of dollars without any technical superiority and with vulnerabilities exposed to the enemy countries.
“I will say that we will be doing that,” Trump said, hinting at a possible sale of the US’ prized F-35 fighter jet under the deal with Saudi Arabia.
Besides the upcoming Saudi-US deal, Pakistan has been carrying out joint exercises with the Middle Eastern countries, gaining crucial insights into Western-supplied tech.
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According to OSINT reports, the Pakistani air force has been conducting training on Qatar’s French-origin 4.5 generation Rafales for years, which are also operated by the Indian Air Force.
New Delhi should dispose of any plans to procure the US-made F-35 fighter jets since Saudi Arabia is in a crucial defence partnership with Islamabad.
It should also keep a close watch on the defence pieces Saudi Arabia acquires under the upcoming deal and strategically plan its move to seek alternatives.
Russia has emerged as a major relief, allowing the sale of its much-prized SU-57 fighter along with technology transfers that it promised to develop jointly with India.
Additionally, there is a need to focus on building indigenous technology, capable of at least being on a par with that of the Western standard.
One thing that goes to the credit of the Narendra Modi government is that it has asserted dominance in its foreign policy, particularly in matters of procuring strategic defence equipment.
The selection criteria for shortlisting weapons systems and aerial and naval platforms have witnessed transformative changes over the past few years.
However, despite a massive push from the government, the constant delays in the induction of the indigenous platforms remain a serious concern.
By Waseem Ahmed Ganie
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