*WASHINGTON: *The United States has approved $125 million worth of supportfor Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.
The package includes logistic and technical support for the aircraft flownby the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and the approval comes days after PrimeMinister Imran Khan met with US President Donald Trump at the White House.
Washington, in early 2018, had blocked military aid to Pakistan after Trumpaccused Islamabad of giving “nothing but lies and deceit” in the waragainst terrorism.
The potential sale will support US foreign policy and national security “byprotecting US technology through the continued presence of US personnelthat provide 24/7 end-use monitoring,” a statement by US State Departmentannouncing the Pakistan approval read.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) has also delivered therequired certification notifying Congress of this possible sale.
Islamabad had requested the continuation of technical support and logisticservices to assist in the oversight of operations in support of thePakistan Peace Drive advanced F-16 program.
In addition to the support for Pakistan, the US also approved $670 millionworth of support for India’s C-17 transport plane fleet.
Approval to support US-built aircraft for the two South Asian rivals wasapproved by the US State Department and announced simultaneously by DSCA.
Separately, the DSCA said that India asked to buy spare parts and testequipment for their Boeing C-17 transport planes, and is seeking personneltraining, among other things, “for an estimated cost of $670 million”.
Read Top Stories
“India needs this follow-on support to maintain its operational readinessand ability to provide Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR)assistance in the region.
“India will have no difficulty absorbing this support into its armedforces,” the statement announcing the approval read.
Both statements added that the proposed sales of equipment and support“will not alter the basic military balance in the region.”
In 2015, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that it has awardedBell Helicopter a $581 million contract that includes the delivery of AH-1ZViper attack helicopters to Pakistan.
The original DSCA notification of Pakistan’s request included 1,000 AGM-114Hellfire II air-to-surface missiles for a precision-strike andenhanced-survivability aircraft that can operate at high altitudes.
The helicopters, which were to be delivered in 2018, never arrived in thecountry as military aid was suspended. The helicopters are reportedlycurrently in storage in the US. -APP/AFP
