US Senate defeats move to block F-16s sale to Pak

The US Senate on Thursday voted to defeat a bill seeking to block the $700-million sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan even as some top legislators called Pakistan an “unreliable” ally and questioned its commitment in fighting terrorist organisations.

The joint resolution, which was introduced in the Senate by Senator Rand Paul asking the legislators to block the sale of the F-16s to Pakistan, was defeated by 71 votes to 24.

To the surprise of many, such a resolution got the support of 24 Senators which is quite significant given that similar motions of disapprovals in the past normally gets the support of just a handful of legislators.

India has opposed the sale, saying it disagrees with Washington’s rationale that such arms transfers would help combat terrorism.

Before his resolution was defeated by the Senate, Mr Paul said the US does not have the money to “give planes free” to Pakistan while the country is crumbling under a foreign debt of $19 trillion.

“We do not have the money to give to Pakistan,” said Mr Paul starting the debate on the sale of the F-16s.

“Should we give planes to a country who imprison our heroes,” Mr Paul said, referring to the imprisonment of Pakistani-African doctor, Shakeel Afridi, who has been jailed on charges of helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden.

Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the Senate foreign relations subcommittee on the Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and counter-terrorism, alleged that Pakistan has been an “unreliable partner” over the course of the last ten years in the fight against extremism.

“But what I worry more about is that these F-16s will provide cover, will provide a substitute for truly meaningful action inside Pakistan to take on the roots of extremism,” he said.

“It is frankly too late in many respects to beat these extremist groups if they are so big, so powerful, so deadly that you have to bomb them from the air,” he added.

The debate and voting was held a day after Pentagon commanders cautioned legislators against restricting or conditioning aid to Pakistan.