New Delhi [India], October 8 : Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, on Wednesday took a dig at the BJP-led Central Government's foreign policy after the US Department of War announced that Pakistan will receive American manufacturer Raytheon's Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles.
In a post on X, Jairam Ramesh noted that public notification from the US Department of War on May 7 did not mention Pakistan to receive the missiles, but that changed in another notification on September 30, in which Pakistan was included with countries like Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Turkey.
Jairam Ramesh, pointing at the inclusion of Pakistan, termed it as another setback.
"According to a public notification of the US Department of War on military contracts awarded on May 7 2025, advance medium-range air-to-air missiles made by Raytheon were to be supplied to Canada, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, Czech Republic, South Korea, Kuwait, Japan, Finland, Germany, UK, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Australia, Turkey, Spain, and Lithuania," Jairam posted.
"However, the US Department of War's public notification on military contracts awarded on Sept 30, 2025, includes countries like Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, and *Pakistan* for the supply of the Raytheon air-to-air missiles," he added.
Further, taking a dig at the Centre, the Congress MP posted, "How quickly the diplomatic climate changes, and how quickly diplomatic setbacks accumulate!"
https://x.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1975828044246851695
In a press release dated September 30, the US Department of War announced that Pakistan is among the list of countries set to receive American manufacturer Raytheon's Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles.
The US Department of War mentioned that Raytheon has been awarded an additional USD 41 million, which adds up to the previously awarded brings up the total value of the contract to USD 2.5 billion.
The contract has been awarded for Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles C8 and D3 variants and their production.
According to the US Department of War, the work will be performed at Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by May 30, 2030.
It involves foreign military sales to Pakistan. Other countries to which it would be sold include the United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Australia, Qatar, Oman, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Kuwait and Turkiye.
"Raytheon Co., Tucson, Arizona, was awarded a $41,681,329 firm-fixed-price modification to a previously awarded contract for Advance Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles C8 and D3 variants and the production thereof. The modification brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $2,512,389,558 from $2,470,708,229. Work will be performed at Tucson, Arizona, and is expected to be completed by May 30, 2030. This contract involves foreign military sales to United Kingdom, Poland, Pakistan, Germany, Finland...", the official statement said.
Dawn reported that the US missiles are to be equipped on F-16 Falcons flown by the Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
It further mentioned that the May 7 contract for the AMRAAM deal did not include Pakistan among the list of buyers for the missile.
Dawn mentioned that Pakistan had previously bought 700 AMRAAM in January 2007- which at that time was the largest international order for the weapon. The announcement of the AMRAAM missiles comes shortly after US President Donald Trump had met Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir in September.