F-16 sale to Pakistan: Rajnath Singh calls US counterpart Austin, raises alarm

NEW DELHI: India conveyed its “concerns” on Wednesday regarding the “sustenance package” approved by the United States for the US-manufactured F-16 fighter jets of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF). The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a statement said, “Rajnath Singh conveyed India’s concerns over the US decision to provide a sustenance package for Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.”

Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin had a “warm and fruitful telephonic conversation” said the MoD adding, “They reviewed the multi-faceted India-US defence cooperation and reiterated mutual commitment to further strengthen military-to-military ties.”

As per the US State Department, the proposed package would sustain Pakistan’s capability to meet current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining its F-16 fleet.” Under the package a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) worth $450 million for hardware, software, and spares for the F-16 fighter jet programme with Pakistan was approved on September 8. The official Pentagon version on the support package to Pakistan read: “This will sustain Islamabad’s capability to meet the current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining its F-16 fleet as well as support American foreign policy and national security objectives by allowing interoperability in ongoing counterterrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.”

It was PAFs F-16 fighters which had tried to breach the Indian Air space on February 27, 2019 in response to the Indian air raid on the Jaish-e-Mohammed training facility in Balakot, Pakistan.