US sold $4.5 bn worth arms to Pakistan in three years: Report

October 12th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The Pakistan Foreign Ministry has issued directives to the law-enforcement agencies to 'sternly' deal with the foreign diplomats who are caught possessing firearms. The Foreign Office has also conveyed to all foreign missions in Islamabad that diplomats who are caught with arms would be treated according to the 'law of the land' and asked them to share the list of weapons they have.

October 8th, 2009 AMRITSAR - The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has requested Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari to intervene and undo the illegal sale of land attached to Sikh shrines in Pakistan.. In a letter sent to Zardari, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar drew his attention towards the sale of land near Defence Colony in Lahore.

October 4th, 2009 AMRITSAR OCTO - The Sikh Diaspora on Sunday raised a hue and cry over the alleged sale of land attached to Sikh Shrines in Pakistan. According to reports, the Pakistan Evacuee Trust Property Board (PETPB) has reportedly sold around 850 canals worth multi-million rupees on a nominal price, which includes a piece of land of nearly 311 canals belonging to Mota Singh near the posh locality of Defense Colony in Lahore and second piece of land of nearly 500 canals belonging to Samadh Bhai Mann Singh and Gurdwar Deh in Lahore.

September 25th, 2009 NEW YORK - President Asif Ali Zardari has said that Pakistan wants peaceful relations with India, and urged resolution of the Kashmir issue, as it is the key to peace in the region. He said the only way forward with India is the dialogue, saying Pakistan hails the resumption of dialogue with India and Pakistan wants friendly relations with its neighbour.

September 19th, 2009 ABOHAR - Radio Pakistan in its recent Punjabi Darbar programme has suggested that India should spend less on defence and more on education and health. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal should thank the Punjabi Darbar programme of Radio Pakistan for its support to their causes.

September 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Congress has raised questions over the Pentagon's proposal to transfer military equipments from Iraq to Pakistan, by questioning whether adequate safeguards existed to ensure that these arms and ammunition do not end up being used by Pakistan against India. The Congress questioned the 'transfer of articles no longer needed in Iraq' and expressed apprehensions that Islamabad may divert the armaments towards the Indian border.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US not only increased its arms sales by nearly 50 percent last year but its share of world weapons sales also rose to more than two-thirds despite the global economic downturn, a newspaper reported Monday. The country expanded its ranking as the top weapons supplier with sales of $37.8 billion last year, or 68 percent of the world total, up from $25.4 billion in 2007, said The New York Times, citing a report from the Congressional Research Service, considered the US Congress' "think tank".

August 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Outgoing Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Monday alleged that Pakistan's attempt to modify Harpoon missile posed a danger to India's interest. As per media reports, the Obama administration has protested to Pakistan for illegally modifying U.S.-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets.

August 13th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Currency worth Rs.1.2231 trillion ($15 billion) is circulating in Pakistan in the form of 4.1588 billion notes, the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, was informed Thursday. State Bank of Pakistan and commercial banks had foreign exchange reserves of $11.68 billion as on Aug 4, Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen said in a written reply.

August 2nd, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Chandigarh police on Sunday arrested a woman in possession of counterfeit currency worth Rs four lakh in Punjab. Police detained Savinder Kaur, who is suspected to be an ISI agent, from Amritsar and seized fake Indian currency in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500.

July 10th, 2009 LAHORE J - Even though its economy is in shambles and it is facing countless problems, Pakistan is among the top 25 largest military spenders in the world. A report by the Foreign Policy in Focus, a US-based think tank, Pakistan owns one of the most advanced Army in the world which possesses plenty of sophisticated arms and ammunitions.

July 3rd, 2009 QUETTA - Answer sheets of the high school exam conducted by the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education were found here being sold as scrap, a media report said. The result of the examinations, held in April, are yet to be announced, Geo news reported.

June 13th, 2009 LAHORE - The Pakistan government is miffed over the benchmarks attached to the US' annual aid bill of worth 1.5 billion dollars being offered to it. Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, Husain Haqqani said his government is unhappy about the conditions attached to the aid.

June 2nd, 2009 LONDON/COLOMBO - Britain approved commercial weapon sales of over 13.6 million pounds, including armoured vehicles, machinegun components and semi-automatic pistols to the Sri Lanka Army, official records show.ccording to The Times, Slovakia provided 10,000 rockets worth .1 million pounds, while Bulgaria approved sales of guns and ammunition worth 1.75 million pounds. Only Slovakia has confirmed delivery of rockets, but the approval of the sales raises the question of whether weapons from the EU were used in the last five months of Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war, during which UN officials estimate that 20,000 civilians were killed.

May 27th, 2009 MOSCOW - Russian arms exports are expected to increase by $700-$800 millon in 2009 despite the global credit crunch and considerable fall in arms purchase by India and China, state arms exporter Rosoboronexport said Wednesday. "Rosoboronexport sells an additional $700-800 million (worth of weaponry) every year.