Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz on Tuesday said Pakistan would get F-16 fighter jets from elsewhere if the United States did not subsidise the sale of eight jets. Aziz told reportedly told Dawn that while Pakistan valued the type of fighter jet for its effectiveness, they "could be replaced by JF-17 Thunderjets". He added that Pakistan was also worried about India's growing military strength and said his country would be "forced to increase its strategic power" if India's military power was not checked.
His statement comes after the United States said it will not subsidise the purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets by Pakistan, reported PTI. The Barack Obama administration asked the Nawaz Sharif government to "put forward [its] national funds" to buy the fighter jets following strong opposition from senators regarding use of the US' public funds to facilitate the deal.
"While Congress has approved the sale, key members have made clear that they object to using FMF (foreign military financing) to support it. Given Congressional objections, we have told the Pakistanis that they should put forward national funds for that purpose," US state department spokesman John Kirby said.
US Lawmakers had put the deal on hold saying Islamabad might use the jets against "India or other regional powers". On February 11, President Barack Obama informed the US Congress of his administration's decision to go ahead with the $ 700-million (Rs 4,647 crore) deal to help Pakistan conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations. To this, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said, "We disagree with their [US'] rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism. The record of the last many years in this regard speaks for itself."
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