WASHINGTON: A US military commander, who oversees military ties between the United States and India, hopes that New Delhi will ultimately understand why the Obama administration is selling eight F-16 aircraft to Pakistan.

“I hope that we can work through this sale, and their perception of it, to continue to improve our relationship with India,” said Admiral Harry Harris, who is going to India on Monday to participate in a dialogue in New Delhi.

The F-16 deal echoed again on Capitol Hill on Wednesday when Admiral Harris appeared before the House Armed Services Committee for a hearing on Asia Pacific region Security. The admiral heads the US Pacific Command which oversees US military ties with India as well.

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first Indian woman elected to the US House of Representatives, raised this issue at the hearing, saying that she had “serious concerns” about the proposed sale.

She said that the sale was not justified, “given the fact that Pakistan has long harboured and given safe haven to various terrorist groups that continue to launch destabilising attacks within India, as well as Afghanistan.”

The lawmaker also referred to a Pakistani court’s decision to release Hafiz Saeed, who she said was one of the masterminds of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack that also killed six US citizens.

She said she had “a number of other concerns” on this issue but would focus on one particular point: “What impact could this sale of F-16s have on our relationship with India?”

Admiral Harris said that he too was aware of the impact the proposed sale could have on US-India relations.

“I view India as our great strategic opportunity … and we need to do as much as we can with India in a military-to-military sense, and in every other sense.”

“With regard to the sale of F-16s to Pakistan, while I don’t have a professional opinion on that sale itself, certainly it will affect some aspect of our relationship with India,” he added.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2016