An Indian forum in the United States on Friday opposed any move to sell F-16 fighter aircraft to Pakistan after the presidential elections in November.
In a letter to US President George W Bush, the Indian American Forum for Political Education said any such move would be "severely detrimental to the strengthening of Indo-US relations, which has touched an all-time high following efforts by the Bush administration".
"Supplying sophisticated fighter aircraft to Pakistan will only stoke the flames of arms race in this region," IAFPE president Sudhir Parikh said in the letter to the President.
It, however, clarified that the forum was not against economic aid to Pakistan for literacy and other developmental programmes.
Parikh said that while the IAFPE had supported Bush's bid for a second term at the White House, "reports of F-16 deliveries to Pakistan would make several members reconsider their endorsement."
He said the proposed F-16 deliveries would also send a "negative message" to Indians throughout the United States and elsewhere.
US Secretary of State Richard Armitage, in an interview to Pakistan's Geo TV earlier this month, had said the issue of F-16s "is still on the table and we have had discussions with the Pakistani authorities about these matters, and I will leave it right there."
