ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday said that the US decision to go ahead with sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan will enhance the country’s counter-terrorism capability.
Talking to state-run radio, Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria emphatically stated that the sale of fighter jets to Pakistan should not be a matter of worry for any other country. When asked about the Indian concerns on the sale, the spokesperson said Islamabad has already expressed its surprise and disappointment over New Delhi’s reaction. He said the United States, in its statements, has also clarified that the jets are being given to enhance precision strike capability of Pakistan against terrorists.
Zakaria said Pakistan, the biggest victim of terrorism, has achieved tremendous successes in the war against terrorism and these successes have also been acknowledged and appreciated by the world community. He said terrorism is not only the issue of Pakistan but of the whole region and the world at large. Therefore, it is imperative that all the countries collaborate in the war on terror, he said, and added Pakistan has always appreciated all counter-terrorism efforts. To a question, Zakaria said the sixth round of ministerial-level Pakistan-US Strategic Dialogue will be held in Washington on Monday. Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz will lead Pakistani delegation in the talks, which will take stock of entire gamut of bilateral relations between the two countries. The US State Department has defended the decision to sell F-16 aircraft to Pakistan and endorsed Islamabad’s position that the planes will used in counter-terrorism operations. In a separate statement, the Pakistan Embassy in Washington appreciated the Obama administration’s determination to go ahead with the proposed sale. The deal, however, is facing stiff resistance in the US Congress where lawmakers have moved resolutions both in the House and the Senate, seeking to block the sale.
“We support the proposed sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan to assist Pakistan’s counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations,” said State Department spokesperson Helaena W White. “Pakistan’s current F-16s have proven critical to the success of these operations to date,” she added, endorsing Pakistan’s position that it had effectively used its existing fleet of F-16s in counter-terrorism operations.
India, and some US lawmakers, have rejected this claim, saying that the F-16s have not been useful in such operations and would ultimately be used against India. But, White noted that the operations Pakistan was conducting in FATA with the help of F-16s ‘have reduced the ability of militants to use Pakistani territory as a safe haven for terrorism and a base of support for the insurgency in Afghanistan’.
She also noted that ‘these operations are in the national interests of Pakistan, the United States, NATO, and in the interest of the entire region more broadly’.
