US okays $125m to ‘monitor’ Pak F16s
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 27
Four months after India and Pakistan were locked in air duel after Balakot air strikes, the US has approved military sales worth $125 million that it claims would result in 24x7 end-use monitoring of the F-16 fighter jets of Pakistan.
This means a technical security team (TST) of the US will continue to be stationed in Pakistan and provide logistics support and oversight for the F-16 programme.
India had said Pakistan used F-16s an air duel on February 27 despite the US having barred the use of the war plane in an offensive role. The Indian Air Force downed an F-16, which Pakistan has consistently denied.
The US-Pakistan deal comes days after a meeting between President Donald Trump and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the United States.
In a way, the US has tried to say that it changes nothing. A US State Department spokesperson was quoted as saying “there has been no change to the security assistance suspension announced by the President (Donald Trump) in January 2018. As the President reiterated this week, we could consider the restoration of certain security assistance programmes consistent with the broader tenor of our relationship”.
According to the Pentagon, Pakistan had requested a continuation of technical support services — US government and contractor technical and logistics support services — and other related elements of logistics support to assist in the oversight of operations.
