Dr Rizwan Naseer
DESPITE warnings of Bob Corker (Republican Senator) chairman Foreign Relations Committee and Indian reaction to F-16 sale for Pakistan, Obama administration is sanguine about Pakistan’s rock-steady efforts to curb terrorism and destroy terrorist networks in turbulent areas of Pakistan. This Well-vetted deal of selling eight F-16 fighter jets and other related accessories including radar system is worth $699 million. This emphatically is going to add up strategic advantage in aerial combat capacity of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).Issuance of certification by US defence and Security Cooperation Agency would certainly gag opponents of this deal. It says that selling F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan is in national interest of US. Now chances of blocking this deal in congress, backed by Indian lobby are quite unlikely.
Indian spriest reaction to summon US ambassador Richard Verma by external Affairs ministry reflects that the former is deeply miffed over the approval of Oval office. New Delhi’s errant reaction to Pak-US bilateral-strategic partnership does not hold water as both are waging war against common threat i.e terrorism. Vikas Swarup, a spokesman for India’s Foreign Ministry, tweeted “We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism,”. New Delhi’s primary concerns are two,(1) Any weaponry or war technology provided to Pakistan should not be aimed against India (2) Pakistan’s relations with US should not hike up at a level where Washington decides to equip Pakistan with sophisticated combative technology. For that very objective, vivacious Indian lobby in Washington has always been proactive to garner support for Indian strategic interests.
This is quite discernible from the materialization of Indo-US nuclear deal despite even much hue and cry from US Congressmen as India was non-signatory of NPT and CTBT and technically did not qualify for such nuclear deal. On other side Pakistan was distinctly denied similar treatment. There is no doubt that Indio-US nuclear deal was tantamount to destabilize existing Balance of power between New Delhi and Islamabad, it certainly could have serious repercussions for regional peace and stability but US didn’t heed any protestations. Now India is bristled with rage over Washington’s decision to uplift Pakistan’s aerial combative capability against terrorists as PAF had successfully pounded terrorists’ sanctuaries.
Delhi should not forget the sacrifices that Pakistan’s armed forces have made in smashing terrorist networks. Defence minister Khawaja Asif already mentioned Indian lobbyists and the former Pakistan’s envoy to US Husain Haqqani, who approached House of representative to block the deal but conked out. General Raheel Sharif’s visit to US in Nov, 2015 was fruitful as US is cognizant of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operation and the success that latter has achieved in Zarb-e-Azb. Another contributing factor that many media pundits unheeded but pushed this deal through was Pakistan’s burgeoning defence ties with Russia. Washington would never want Pakistan to slip from its orbit of influence and find new partners in world arena. After Pakistan’s negotiations of buying Sukhoi Su-35 Flanker-E along with Hind-E attack helicopters from Russia, Obama administration could lure Pakistan with F-16 fighter jets in a better way. US stakes in region are exponentially high as US forces are still operating in Afghanistan and without Pakistan’s support, US may not stabilize Afghanistan to seek honorable exit.
Pakistan’s Air Force is beefing up gradually as in 1980s it had forty F-16 jets only and further consignment were cancelled because of US sanctions on Pakistan under 1985 Pressler Amendment. Estimates bring out that PAF operates with 70 F-16 and is looking for more to increase number of aircrafts. Recent statistics released by “Global Fire Power” highlight that Pakistan’s Air Force possesses about 923 aircraft in total and among them 304, are fighters/interceptors.US Air Force also has a strong fleet of about 1900 fighters which includes F-15s, F-16s, F-22 and A-10s while also inducting new F-35s to make US Air force the strongest in the World.
Congressional Research Service report (2015) revealed the between 2004-2014, for fortifying Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations, US sold Pakistan military equipment worth $5.4 billion. Given the situation, when Zarb-e-Azb is on its full swing and Pakistan’s forces have gained extolling success by targeting high profile terrorists. In such a critical time, US’ approval of giving away F-16 fighter jets is worthwhile. Corker’s and Indian resistance must be taken seriously in corps diplomatique of Pakistan.
As Pakistani government should not forget that last year March,2015 when US House on Foreign Affairs halted $150 million in foreign military financing and supply of used US navy vessels on the pretexts that Washington was not satisfied with Islamabad’s efforts to take effective measures against terrorist groups operating within Pakistan’s territory. This situation is a test for Pakistan’s diplomats to prove their skills and bag the deal without any obstacles.
