Daily Times

WASHINGTON – The US State Department has said that Pakistan will have to pay from its own funds if it wants to buy F-16 fighter jets.

The US had earlier proposed to provide $430 million for the deal, while Islamabad was to pay $270 million for the purchase of the fighter jets.But the US lawmakers made it clear that they would not allow the Obama administration to use US funds for 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 journalists at his daily news briefing.

However, Kirby did not say when this decision was taken and when was it communicated to Pakistan.Corker’s stance reflected deep unhappiness among both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.Kirby said that the congressional opposition meant funds from the US government’s Foreign Military Financing allocation could not be used to purchase the aircraft.

Earlier, the State Department had informed the Congress about its determination for selling eight the fighter jets to Pakistan at an estimated cost of USD 700 million. The move was opposed by the Indian government as it summoned the US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, to lodge its protest.

Several Indian American organisations reached out to the lawmakers expressing their concern over such a sale, which they argued is nothing but rewarding a bad actor.

Last week, top American lawmakers during a Congressional hearing openly told the Obama administration that they feared Pakistan would be using these F-16 fighter jets against India and not against terrorists.However, both the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan and the Pakistan government insisted that F-16 is an important tool in the fight against terrorism and urged the Congress to remove the hold.

– US lacks appreciation of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism –

Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Nawaz Sharif Syed Tariq Fatemi did not refer directly to the F-16 issue, but on Monday complained that the United States’ lack of “sufficient appreciation for Pakistan’s whole-hearted efforts” against counter-terrorism.

Fatemi made the remarks in a meeting with visiting professional staffers from the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.Lockheed Martin Corp said in March it was using its own funds to pay suppliers and stave off closure of its F-16 fighter jet production line as it waited to finalise orders from Pakistan and other countries.