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US to sell F-16s to Pakistan
President Bush (news - web sites) has agreed to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in a major policy shift rewarding a key ally in the war on terrorism, administration officials said on Friday.A senior Bush administration official said the sale, which was blocked for 15 years, "will not change the overall balance of power" between Pakistan and India, and the jets "are vital to Pakistan's security as President (Pervez) Musharraf takes numerous risks prosecuting the war on terror." One Bush administration official said the sale involved 24 planes but another said the numbers could change. India's prime minister expressed "great disappointment," a spokesman in New Delhi said. Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called Bush's decision "a good gesture... This shows that our relations are growing stronger." Washington blocked the sale of the F-16s to Pakistan in 1990 as a sanction against its nuclear weapons program. Though no final decision has been made "at this point" on similar F-16 sales to India, the senior Bush administration official said: "We will respond positively to the Indian tender for bids to sell multi-role combat aircraft." The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin Corp., the largest U.S. defense contractor. Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, opened new political possibilities for advancing Pakistan's stalled 15-year quest for the F-16 fighters when he said last month that Islamabad would not object to India also buying the American-made jets. The decision follows Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites)'s visit to India and Pakistan earlier this month. The State Department informed key congressional leaders on Friday. In New Delhi, a spokesman for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Bush called him on Friday about the planned sale. "The prime minister expressed India's great disappointment at the decision which could have negative consequences for India's security environment," Sanjaya Baru, spokesman for the prime minister's office, told Reuters. India has strongly opposed the sale of F-16s to Pakistan after the Pentagon (news - web sites) cleared arms sales worth $1.2 billion to Pakistan last year. New Delhi says the planes could only be used against it in a conflict. Islamabad in turn has said that any move by the United States to sell Patriot anti-missile systems to India would trigger a new arms race in the region, after a U.S. defense team made a presentation last month in New Delhi. The F-16 sale represents a major policy shift for the United States and a final step toward tacit acceptance of Pakistan's possession of nuclear weapons. "President Musharraf made a commitment to stand with the United States," the senior administration official said. "This is a long-standing request." Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-03-25 |
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