News Analysis: U.S. decision to halt subsidized fighter jets raises concerns about anti-Pakistan sentiment

Pakistan is disappointed at a recent U.S. Congress decision to block the country's purchase of F-16 fighter aircraft for its fight against the insurgents in the difficult mountainous terrain, political observers suggested Tuesday.

The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama had provisionally approved to the sale of eight F-16s in February, however, a sub-committee on Asia and Pacific of the U.S. Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs blocked the subsidized deal earlier this month.

The administration was to pay 430 million U.S. dollars in subsidies through the U.S. foreign military's financing budget of the jets valued at nearly 700 million dollars. Pakistan's share was only 270 million dollars.

Pakistan wanted to bolster its fleet of F-16s and to further boost its air power against the militants in the tribal regions.

Aerial bombing had proved to be the most successful means of targeting the hideouts of the armed groups in the rugged mountains, bordering Afghanistan.

Sources close to the matter suggested recently however, that some U.S. congressmen decided to recycle old arguments that Pakistan has not done enough against the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani Network.

The sub-committee's chairman Matt Salmon told the hearing that there are concerns the F-16s could be used against India as tensions between Pakistan and India persist.

Political watchers here said the vast majority in Pakistan agree with the longstanding perception that the U.S. administration has again toed the line of the U.S. congress at this critical juncture, when the security forces are in dire need of the fighter jets to tackle the insurgents.

Pakistanis also believe the U.S. lawmakers routinely come up with different pretexts which are being pursued by various interest groups and lobbies, especially the Indian lobby in congress.

A general impression also persists in Pakistan, observers maintain, that the Obama administration wants to squeeze Pakistan via congress and at the same time the decision has raised serious concerns in Pakistan that the U.S. could fail to maintain the balance of power in the region.

Defense analysts say the U.S. administration has bowed to what they call the traditional blackmailing of the anti-Pakistan lobby to halt the sale at a time when the country is winning the war on terror.

They also argue that blocking of funds is seen as a violation of an already inked Pak-U.S. agreement for the purchase of the F-16 jets.

"They want to get the maximum from Pakistan for the minimum cost," a former brigadier, Syed Nazeer Mohmand, said on Tuesday.

"It is unfortunate that American interests are always served first and once the Americans see that their interests have receded in the region and that Pakistan is no longer required as a strategic forefront, then they tactically create various excuses. They introduce one amendment and then another in congress," Mohmand told Xinhua.

As the U.S. decisions shocked many in Pakistan, there are now calls on the government to look for alternate options and decrease its dependence on the U.S.. Senior diplomats here are insisting that it is the responsibility of the Obama administration to convince congress that it wants to go ahead with the deal.

Top Pakistani diplomats said they are in contact with the U.S. to find out an alternative solution and suggested the deal may not be entirely scrapped.

The country's Adviser on Foreign Affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has said that, "Pakistan will have to pay the 700 million U.S. dollars for the fighter jets and other weapons all by itself."

"We are still negotiating with U.S. officials about a number of options," Aziz told reporters this week.

On Monday, Pakistan's top defense official, Lt-Gen (retd) Muhammad Alam Khattak told the visiting commander of United States Central Command, General Joseph L. Votel, that the aircraft are essential for Pakistan's fight against terrorism, according to the defense ministry. Enditem