Thursday, Mar 28 2024 | Time 20:40 Hrs(IST)
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World


Pak Senators blame Indian lobby for US decision to block F-16s sale

Islamabad, May 13 (UNI) The Opposition in Pakistan has hit out at the Nawaz Sharif regime, terming America’s decision to block F-16s sale to Pakistan as a failure of the country’s diplomacy and a success of the Indian lobby. “It seems that the Foreign Office is not even fully functional. We do not have any foreign minister,” Senator Mohsin Leghari said participating in a debate in the Pakistan Senate on an adjournment motion on the US decision to withdraw proposed subsidy on the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan. Usman Kakar of the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party regretted that there had been no role of Parliament in formulating the country’s foreign policy. The senators termed the US a friend which could not be trusted anymore. They also criticised the US for expanding its relations with India, ignoring that Pakistan had been its frontline partner in the war on terror. They were of the view that the US had no care for the ‘sacrifices’ Pakistan had rendered and losses it had suffered in the war on terror. Winding up the debate, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz conceded that relations with the US had been under stress for the past three months because of conditions Washington had attached to the funding of F-16s sale. The adviser said that Pakistan-US relations had come to a standstill in 2011 because of unfortunate incidents like WikiLeaks, Raymond Davis and the Abbottabad operation (in which Osma bin Laden was killed by US Special Forces). Since 2013, the relations had witnessed an “upward trajectory”. “In the past three months, however, this upward trajectory in relations has witnessed a downward slide, as reflected in a decision of the US Congress to block partial funding for eight F-16 aircraft,” he said. Mr Aziz said that the US action might have been caused by concerns raised by Washington on the nuclear issue which had been categorically rejected by Pakistan. “We have also rejected frequent demands, especially by the US Congress, for the release of Dr Shakil Afridi. The US officials, Congress, think-tanks and media, in tandem with our adversaries, have also been blaming Pakistan for supporting the Haqqani network without giving any concrete evidence to enable us to take additional action against it or other terrorist organisations,” he added. However, Mr Aziz said, the Haqqani Network issue remained the top US concern at the moment. The Indian lobby in the US, he said, had also been highly pro-active in adding fuel to the fire, especially after the Pathankot incident. The adviser, however, assured the Senate that in view of the importance of the issue, Pakistan had been making all-out efforts to finalise the F-16 deal with the US administration. Mr Aziz said that the spring offensive launched by Afghan Taliban with the latest terrorist attack in Kabul had further aggravated the already bleak security situation in Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan had been impressing upon the US and Afghan sides that the reconciliation process needed to be given a fair chance and more time and irreconcilable elements could be targeted after efforts for negotiations had failed. “We hope to discuss these issues in detail during an upcoming meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group in Islamabad on May 18 and 19.” UNI XC AT 1223
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