Pakistan: US F-16 jetsale under discussion

Pakistan said on Sunday the proposed sale of F-16 aircrafts by the United States to Pakistan was still under discussion between the two countries. Foreign office spokesman Nafees Zakariya said that provision of F-16s to Pakistan will enhance its anti-terrorism capability.

“Pakistan and the United States are cooperating in the fight against terrorism,” he said while commenting on reports regarding the cutting of financial subsidy for the sale of the aircraft by the United States. He said that coordinated efforts were needed at international level to tackle the menace of terrorism and the responsibility to eliminate terrorism cannot be placed on one country.

Recently, US Senate said Pakistan will have to pay for the eight F-16 fighter jets which were being brought from the US after the chairman of the US Senate’s foreign relations committee Bob Corker stopped Washin-gton from paying its half of the deal.

For eight fighter jets worth $700 million, Pakistan had to pay $270 million and the remainder $430 million of the cost was to be paid by the United States. Mr Corker had notified the Obama administration that he would not approve using US funds to pay for the planes under the foreign military financing (FMF) program.

F-16s would allow Pakistan’s Air Force to operate in all-weather environments and at night, while improving its self-defence capability and bolstering its ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations.

On October 22, 2015, the US administration announced to sell eight new F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in order to bolster a tenuous partnership between the two countries. Pakistan’s minister of defence Khawaja Mohammed Asif said that the Indian lobby did not want Pakistan to obtain F-16s.