Obama government announced sale around PM Nawaz Sharif’s US visit in October
From page 1 WASHINGTON: Key Republican Senator John McCain has sought a hearing into the proposed US sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and a colleague from his party introduced a joint resolution opposing the deal.
McCain, who heads the Senate armed services committee, told reporters on Thursday he was concerned about the timing of the sale and consequences for US ties with India.
“I would rather have seen it kicked over into the next administration,” McCain said. He sought a hearing of the Senate foreign relations committee, saying he was “conflicted” about it.
His colleague, Senator Rand Paul, who was a candidate for the party’s presidential nomination, introduced a joint resolution on Wednesday opposing the sale.
Paul joins a bipartisan position taken by leading members of the foreign relations committee of the US Senate and the House of Representatives in opposing the proposed sale.
“The US and Pakistani relationship has been a troubled one,” Paul said in a statement.
“Though the government of Pakistan has been considered America’s ally in the fight on terrorism, Pakistan’s behaviour would suggest otherwise. While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban.”
He went on to call Pakistan “duplicitous”, a word frequently used by US lawmakers for the country, and brought up its “support of terrorism and deplorable human rights record”.
The Obama administration announced its intention to sell the new F-16 jets to Pakistan around Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ’s visit to the US last October.
The US department of defence notified Congress on February 12, as is required for a deal of this size, of the “possible sale” that is estimated to cost $699.04 million.
Lawmakers have 30 days to block the move.
India has expressed “displeasure” over the proposed sale the day after, and said it disagrees with the Obama administration’s “rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism”.
HOW THEY REACTED
Lawmakers opposed the Obama administration’s move to sell F-16 combat jets to Pakistan
LASHING OUT
There’s a potential sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan that I and other members of Congress have expressed very serious concerns about, given the fact that Pakistan has long harboured and given safe haven to various terrorist groups that continue to launch destabilising attacks within India, as well as Afghanistan Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu Congresswoman elected to the US House of Representatives
Though the government of Pakistan has been considered America’s ally in the fight on terrorism, Pakistan’s behaviour would suggest otherwise. While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban Rand Paul, Republican Senator
“I would rather have seen it kicked over into the next administration” John McCain, Republican Senator, expressing concerns about the timing of the Obama administration’s decision to approve the sale of the fighter jets to Pakistan, and the potential consequences for US relations with India
IN DEFENCE
The F-16s have been a critical part of the Pakistani fight against the terrorists in the western part of that country, and have been effective in that fight… We try to be sensitive to the balance, obviously, with respect to India. But we think the F-16s are an important part of Pakistan’s ability to do that John Kerry, Secretary of State, defending the US move
Resolution introduced in US House to block sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan
A top US lawmaker has introduced a “joint resolution” in the House of Representatives to express Congress’s disapproval over an arms deal with Pakistan which includes the sale of eight nuclear-capable F-16 fighter jets to the latter.
“The government of Pakistan has been using weapons from the US to repress its own citizens and especially the people of Baluchistan,” Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said on Thursday after he introduced the resolution in the House of Representatives which is similar to Indian Parliament’s lower House, the Lok Sabha.
“The deciding factor of whether to support this joint resolution is, for me, the arrogant and hostile actions taken by the government of Pakistan against the man who helped bring Osama bin Laden to justice,” Rohrabacher said.
Earlier this month, the Obama administration officially announced it would go through with the $700 million arms deal with Pakistan.
Alleging that Osama bin Laden was a “mass murderer” of 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001, he said anyone who helped bring him to justice is an “American hero”.
“The government of Pakistan arrested Shakil Afridi and continues to hold him in a cage. The arrest was a declaration of hostility toward the United States,” he said.
“Our government should not provide military equipment to Pakistan, let alone F-16s, as long as they are holding Afridi. His continued incarceration is an action which underscores that the government of Pakistan considers itself our enemy, not our friend,” Rohrabacher said.
A day earlier, former Republican presidential candidate Senator Rand Paul introduced the joint resolution in the Senate to block sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.
The resolution (SJ Res 30) calls for prohibiting sale of eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, which the state department had recently notified to the Congress.
It also calls for “prohibiting sale” of other military hardware to Pakistan including eight Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suites (AIDWES), 14 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems (JHMCS).
Meanwhile, Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has put a hold on the sale of F-16 to Pakistan.
The Obama administration, however, is hopeful that it would be able to overcome legislative challenges to proceed with the sale of F-16.
“The relationship between the US and Pakistan has been a troubled one. Though the government of Pakistan has been considered to be America’s ally in the fight on terrorism, its behaviour would suggest otherwise. While we give them billions of dollars in aid, we are simultaneously aware of their intelligence and military apparatus assisting the Afghan Taliban,” Senator Paul alleged.
“In addition to Pakistan’s duplicitous nature, it also has a deplorable human rights record. It often isolates and unjustly jails religious minorities and Christians,” he claimed.
“Only after an international outcry did Pakistan commute Asa Bibi’s death sentence. In addition to Pakistan’s support of terrorism and deplorable human rights record, it continues to imprison Afridi who helped the US locate and kill Osama Bin Laden,” Paul said.