U.S.-Pakistan Arms Deal Irks India

United States Plans To Sell F-16 Fighter Jets To Next-Door Rivals

(AP) 
"If the United States is giving the planes to Pakistan, it will create better feelings among the people for America," said Pakistan's information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed.

"This will fulfill our defense requirements. We had been lagging behind (India) in conventional weapons. This will improve the situation," Ahmed said.

The sales to two nuclear countries that have warred over the Kashmir territory could raise eyebrows among U.S. allies in Europe who are under White House pressure not to lift an arms embargo on China. The Bush administration argues that European weapons could contribute to rising tensions between Beijing and Taiwan.

Pakistan struck a deal with the United States to buy the nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets in the late 1980s, but the agreement was scrapped in the 1990s when Washington imposed sanctions on Islamabad over its nuclear weapons program. Since then, Islamabad, which had paid in advance for the F-16s, has been pressuring Washington to supply the rest of the planes.

Renewed sales to Pakistan would reflect U.S. gratitude for Pakistan's cooperation in the global hunt for terrorists. The United States had signed a separate $1.3 billion arms package to Pakistan last year.

India had voiced its opposition to the resumption of supply of F-16s to Pakistan during talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice when she made a whistle-stop tour of South Asia last week.

New Delhi is worried that arming Pakistan with the advanced jet fighters would tilt the military balance in South Asia and could adversely affect the ongoing peace dialogue between India and Pakistan.

Rice had said the F-16 sales were a topic during talks in both India and Pakistan, but that she would not make any announcements during her tour.