(Courtesy: India West)

WASHINGTON: The pro Pakistan lobby on Capitol Hill has swung into action to take advantage of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s campaign to secure delivery of F16 fighters.

Hardly had Bhutto quit U.S. soil after her 10 day visit, when Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind introduced legislation in the House urging the Clinton administration to allow Pakistan delivery of the aircraft, for which Islamabad *has already paid over $600 million.

Along with a suspension of aid, the ‘US withheld delivery of the aircraft after invoking the Presser Amendment in 1990 in protest against Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, ” Burton called for what he described as a more balanced U.S. policy toward nuclear proliferation in South ‘Asia. “The current U.S. policy promotes instability in the region by punishing Pakistan for nuclear weapons ‘development and rewarding its rival, India, for its program,” he said, ‘He mentioned what he said are vital ‘security interests the U.S. has in South Asia. He said Pakistan has been a strong ally interregional for years. The Pressler Amendment has dangerously undermined that relationship, he added.

“By cutting off Pakistan,” he warned, “we may be driving that country into the arms of unpredictable strategic partners like China or Tran.”

He urged a modification or repeal of the 10 year old amendment in the interest of peace and stability in the region, and said, “We can take a first step by allowing Pakistan to take the possession of the 28 F16s.”

He said the sale was in US interests because it would address a military imbalance between Pakistan and India and discourage Islamabad from seeking arms from dangerous partners such as Iran, North Korea and China.

In 1989, the U.S. approved the sale of 60 F16s to Pakistan under a program known as Peace Gate IV. Pakistan paid $658 million into a fund to pay for their construction. Some 28 planes have been completed and are being warehoused at an air force base in Arizone at an annual cost to Pakistan of $50,000 per plane.

Under the Presser Amendment, the president had to give written assurances to Congress that Pakistan neither had nor intended to have a nuclear device.

Without such a certification, Pakistan can’t get U.S. economic and military aid. In 1990, then President Bush didn’t issue such a certificate, which resulted in denial of U.S. aid to Pakistan, which had been about $650 million annually in the 1980s.

Article extracted from this publication >> May 5, 1995