Pakistan fails to seal F-16 jets deal with US: Report ‘India’s NSG membership not about arms race’
OFFER EXPIRED Islamabad was required to provide letter of acceptance for the pact by May 24, but papers were not issued
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s bid to purchase eight F-16 fighter jets from the United States seems to have failed following a row over finance, a report in the Dawn newspaper said.
In the report published on Saturday, the paper said the Pakistan government was required to provide the “letter of acceptance” for purchase of the jets by May 24, but a diplomatic source revealed that the document was not issued, which led to the expiry of the offer. “Pakistan decided not to fully fund the case with national funds, so the terms of sale have now expired,” the paper quoted a source as saying.
Initially, the $699 million deal for eight F-16C/D Block-52 multirole fighters (two C and six D models), was to be partially financed through the US Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programme but Congress disallowed subsidising the sale over concerns that Pakistan had not done enough to end the Haqqani network’s sanctuaries on its soil as well as fears about Islamabad’s nuclear programme, particularly tactical weapons and the intermediate range Shaheen III missile.
Pakistan, which expected to get the fighters at the subsidised rate of $270 million, was subsequently asked by the US administration to make the full payment for the eight jets from its national resources. This was not acceptable to Pakistani authorities, who remained adamant that the offer must come without any preconditions.
The aircraft were required by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for counter-insurgency and counterterrorism operations.
It was unclear why Pakistan missed the opportunity despite pressing requirement for the jets, although it had originally desired to acquire 18 F-16s, the paper said.
The report also speculated that some quarters believe providing the letter of acceptance would have kept the window open for renegotiating the financing arrangement at a later stage. Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Jalil Abbas Jilani, talking to Dawn via phone from Washington, said “a deadend has not been reached as yet”. WASHINGTON: In an apparent snub to Pakistan over its opposition to India’s bid to become a member of the NSG, US state department deputy spokesman Mark Toner has said “it is not about an arms race, but about peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
He also said the US hopes “Pakistan understands that.” Toner was responding to questions on Friday about India’s membership application to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the opposition to it by Pakistan on the grounds that this would give pace to nuclear arms race in the region.
However, the US has fingers crossed, ahead of the crucial meeting of the 48-nation NSG.
“Look, all I can say is that during his visit to India in 2015, President (Barack) Obama did affirm the US view that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for membership. But it’s a consensus body, so we’ll wait and see how the vote goes,” Toner said. SAFED, ISRAEL: His frail frame covered by a gown and his arm in a sling, the wounded Free Syrian Army fighter is being treated in the most unlikely of settings — a publicly funded hospital in Israel.
The 22-year-old fighter, who does not want to be identified, says he was hurt when militants from Daesh, or the Islamic State (IS), overran his village in Daraa, one of the 14 governorates of Syria. He refuses to give details of exactly how he got to the Israeli border and was brought to Ziv Medical Center in the mountain city of Safed.
“I wasn’t ready for the Daesh when they came to my village and started killing people. Some of the Daesh fighters were Syrians, others were foreigners,” he says.
The fighter acknowledges he never saw Israelis as friends but his views changed after he was taken care of at the hospital. “While growing up, I saw the Israelis as devils. But I changed my mind after they treated me,” he says.
Will he return to Syria to continue fighting the IS? “Inshallah [god willing],” says the fighter. “They were shooting young people and women. I will go back.”
Fares, an Arabic-speaking social worker who has been helping the Israeli and foreign staff of Ziv Medical Center to interact with Syrian patients for the past three years, says many Syrians with serious injuries have been treated in Safed.
“Some have lost hands and legs, others need psychiatric care for trauma and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I copy their life to my life, I especially think about my own children and my old mother,