Senate chairman calls US a ‘callous state’

Rabbani was referring to last year’s deadly US air raid on a hospital in the Afghan province of Kunduz

ISLAMABAD: Angered by US congressmen’s move to block subsidy for the sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani hit out at the United States on Wednesday calling it a ‘callous state’ and voicing his concern over its ‘leaning towards India’.

“The US Congress has said ‘No’. I have all the respect for US congressmen but we are also a parliament and have reservations over the manner they have blocked the subsidy,” Rabbani said when Senator Mohsin Leghari sought an exclusive debate on the issue through an adjournment motion.

Referring to a civil-nuclear agreement between Washington and New Delhi, Rabbani said the Pakistan-US relationship was tilted in favour of Washington.  “Parliament has reservations over the US leanings towards India,” he added. “One of the reasons behind blocking the subsidy for Pakistan was India, which had concerns over the F-16s sale.”

Rabbani referred to last year’s deadly US air raid on a hospital in the Afghan province of Kunduz and said, “The United States is a callous state. It did not court-martial those who bombed the hospital.” At least 42 people were killed and over 30 wounded when US Air Force aircraft bombed the Kunduz Trauma Centre on October 3, 2015.

The Senate chairman said the United States did not respect Pakistan’s laws and courts. To substantiate his claim, he cited the 2011 shootout by CIA contractor Raymond Davis in Lahore and a recent statement of US presidential candidate Donald Trump about Dr Shakeel Afridi.

Trump said in a Fox News interview last month that if elected, he would ensure Dr Afridi, who had  helped the US track and kill al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in Abbotabad, is freed from jail within ‘two minutes’.

Speaking on the floor of the house, Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz requested that the matter of the F-16s sale should be taken up in the presence of Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who is currently out of the country. However, when Rabbani insisted the issue came under his purview, Aziz sought time for preparation.

The upper house will hold a two-hour debate on the issue on Thursday (today). However, only MPs from the ruling party and its allies are likely to participate as opposition parties are boycotting the proceedings of both houses of parliament.

Leader of Opposition in the Senate Aitzaz Ahsan presented a copy of the seven questions the opposition wants the premier to answer in parliament on Friday. The questions were submitted to the Senate Secretariat.

“We do not want to surprise the prime minister and have, therefore, framed these seven questions so that he can clear his name,” Ahsan said.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2016.