Bush agrees to sell F-16s to Pakistan, India uneasy

F-16 fighter jets similar to those being sold to Pakistan. Picture / Reuters

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush has agreed to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in a major policy shift rewarding a key ally in the war on terrorism and angering its nuclear neighbor, India.

Bush, on vacation at his Crawford, Texas, ranch, called Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and "explained his decision to move forward on the sale," which has been blocked for 15 years, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Singh expressed "great disappointment" and warned that the move "could have negative consequences for India's security environment," said Sanjaya Baru, spokesman for the prime minister's office.

The Bush administration played down India's security concerns, and signaled a willingness to sell sophisticated fighters to India if it chooses to buy them in the future, but made no firm commitments.

"Relations between India and Pakistan have never been better," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. "To the extent that we can contribute to Pakistan's sense of security and India's sense of security, that will contribute to regional stability."

Ereli said the number of F-16s that will be sold to Pakistan was "undetermined," and that negotiations would begin with the Pakistani government and the US Congress on the details. A senior administration official said earlier that initial estimates called for the sale of 24 planes.

Ereli said the F-16s would be newly built and that the administration has yet to negotiate the terms of the sale. The F-16 is made by Lockheed Martin Corp., the largest US defence contractor.

Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called Bush's decision "a good gesture.... This shows that our relations are growing stronger."

A senior Bush administration official said the F-16 sale to Pakistan "will not change the overall balance of power" between Pakistan and India.

The official said the jets "are vital to Pakistan's security as President (Pervez) Musharraf takes numerous risks prosecuting the war on terror."

Washington blocked the sale of the F-16s to Pakistan in 1990 as a sanction against its nuclear weapons program.

Though no final decision has been made "at this point" on similar F-16 sales to India, a senior Bush administration official said: "We will respond positively to the Indian tender for bids to sell multi-role combat aircraft."

Perino said Bush and Singh discussed India's request for information about new fighters, and Ereli said US firms are "now free to talk to India about what they have to offer, and it'll be up to India to decide what it wants."

If India chooses to buy US fighters, negotiations "would proceed from there," Ereli said. "We have not concluded a deal to sell anything. But we are now embarked upon the path of possibly selling some aircraft," he said of India.

Jehangir Karamat, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, has said Islamabad would not object to India also buying the American-made jets.

"India is fast becoming a major world power, and our interest is in helping to ... integrate that into the existing power structure in the world," Ereli said.

POLICY SHIFT

The F-16 sale represents a major policy shift for the United States and a final step toward tacit acceptance of Pakistan's - as well as India's - possession of nuclear weapons.

"The symbolism is important as it is a nuclear (warhead) delivery platform," said Uday Bhaskar, who heads the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyzes, a government-funded New Delhi think tank.

The decision follows Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to India and Pakistan earlier this month, and came after Musharraf said Pakistan is considering sending centrifuge components to the UN nuclear agency, which could enable the international watchdog to determine if Iran has been building an atomic bomb.

The State Department informed key congressional leaders of the policy change on Friday.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, which have fought three wars and were on the brink of another in 2002, have eased since they began talks last year aimed at ending half a century of enmity.

India has strongly opposed the sale of the F-16s to Pakistan after the Pentagon cleared arms sales worth US$1.2 billion to Pakistan last year. New Delhi says the planes could only be used against it in a conflict.

Islamabad in turn has said that any move by the United States to sell Patriot anti-missile systems to India would trigger a new arms race in the region, after a US defence team made a presentation last month in New Delhi.

- REUTERS