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Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif seems to have clinched a deal during his recent visit to Washington. It now appears that the Clinton administration had promised an attractive package on the F-16 deal, which is one reason why Mr Sharif and his senior ministers have been telling that country's opposition to ``wait and watch.''
The Times of India has learnt that in an unannounced briefing this week to senior aides of US lawmakers by state department and justice department officials, it was mentioned that the Clinton administration is considering repaying $300 to 350 million in cash (70 per cent of the value of the F-16s held by the US) and the rest in commodity sales - specifically winter wheat - to Islamabad. The total worth of this new package is estimated to be approximately $501 million.
This offer has irked some senior US Congressmen, one of whom categorised it as a ``policy drift in South Asia'' which could pose ``new security threats to India.'' Said Democratic Congresman Sherrod Brown, a member of the House International Relations Committee as well as the sub-committee on Asia and the Pacific, to The Times of India: ``I understand that the US may be close to returning $500 million in cash and commodities to Pakistan for the original purchase of the F-16 jets. Combined with the administration's waiver of IMF-backed loans to Pakistan, I am concerned that we are seeing a policy drift in South Asia. Unfortunately, giving concessions to Pakistan with little in return runs the risk of destabilising the region creating new security threats against India. This is a situation we must address sooner rather than later. I propose to call a hearing of the House International Relations Committee to revive our orginial priorities in South Asia.''
The offer is the most tempting one the US has come up with but it is the timing of the package that has caused concern amongst some senior Congressmen who think it is badly timed. At the briefing, some of the aides had asked why the deal was being offered to Pakistan at this stage when there has been no progress in the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Islamabad had earlier paid $658 million for 28 F-16 fighter jets (it planned to buy 60 F-16s) when the deal got enmeshed in the Pressler Amendment in 1990. Since then the jets have been lying in a remote Arizona desert.
Since then, there have been attempts to find a third country buyer for the 28 jets. In the past two years, Pakistan has consistently threatened to drag Washington to court for its failure to deliver the jets or repay the money. Senior officials here are uncomfortable over the prospects of being sued.
It has been learnt that the Indian Ambassador to the US, Naresh Chandra, was also given a separate briefing on the proposed package. The Indian Embassy here has been aware about the possibility of such a deal for quite some time.
However, alongside the lop-sided way the US has tried to deal with the two nuclear `recalcitrants' in South Asia on the sanctions issue, the absurd entities list and hedging on World Bank loans, the latest US proposal cannot be welcome news to New Delhi.
The US proposal comes at a time when its media is replete with accounts about Islamabad shopping for a new generation of fighter planes in Europe and China.
Courtesy :The Times of India
