WASHINGTON, July 20: Pro-Indian US lawmakers have urged the Bush administration to reconsider its decision to sell F-16 jets to Pakistan, vowing to resist the proposed $5.1 billion arms package at congressional hearings which were scheduled to begin on Thursday afternoon.
“This material is not being used against Al Qaeda. The potential is that it would be used in a war against India,” said Congressman Frank Pallone, founder of the Congressional caucus on India and Indian-Americans.
“We don’t need to reward Pakistan for being our friend in the war on terrorism by giving them advanced weapons systems that are not likely to be used in that effort,” said the New Jersey Democrat.
Congresswoman Diane Watson, a California Democrat, praised Pakistan for helping the US in the war against terror but, she said, Pakistan had done nothing to stop its “moral, if not material, support for like-minded extremist groups.”
Congressman Tom Lantos said he backed the arms package, “but my support is contingent on providing the US with total security with respect to the non-leaking of any of our high-tech capabilities to any other party.”
Rep Lantos, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives’ International Relations Committee, which would review the deal, said that after speaking recently to State Department officials, he believed those concerns could be resolved.
Mr Lantos was referring to claims by the Indian lobby on the Hill that Pakistan might transfer the F-16 technology to China.
“Pakistan is an ally in the war on terror, but they have a chequered past on proliferation,” said Congressman Joe Crowley, a New York Democrat.
Earlier this week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee postponed a scheduled hearing to review the proposed deal.
Unless stopped by the Congress within 30 days, the deal will go through. Lawmakers, however, acknowledged that stopping the sale would be difficult. It would require the passage of a resolution in both the House and Senate before July 28. Besides, President George Bush could veto any resolution, unless both chambers of Congress voted 2-1 to override the veto.
