Pakistan to sell 8 fighter jets to Sri Lanka

Pakistan on Tuesday sealed a landmark deal to sell JF-17 Thunder fighter jets to Sri Lanka as the two countries signed eight agreements to boost cooperation in areas like trade promotion, and science and technology besides combating money laundering and terror financing.

On the second day of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to Colombo, Pakistan agreed to sell eight aircraft to Sri Lanka, in the first successful deal to sell the jets which Pakistan has been trying to sell for some time.

JF-17 Thunder is already part of Pakistan Air Force and has been successfully used to strike terrorist hideouts in northwestern tribal region.

Initially, the jets were manufactured with Chinese technical assistance but now it is solely done in Pakistan, according to a Geo TV report that claimed the deal has been finalised despite pressure from India wh-ich was forcing Colombo to buy Indian aircraft. The deal was reached during the three-day trip of Mr Sharif to Colombo that also saw the two sides signing eight agreements in the fields of education, science and technology, healthcare, agriculture, tourism, sporting contacts, cultural exchanges and people-to-people contacts. Mr Sharif said both sides expressed their satisfaction at the existing bilateral cooperation in the field of defence.