WASHINGTON, March 25: The United States on Friday announced its decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan but in order to soften the disappointment the proposed sale has caused to New Delhi it offered to help India become a major world power. Addressing a hurriedly-called briefing at the State Department, three senior US officials also unveiled a new strategy for long-term US engagement with the South Asian region. This includes both economic and military assistance to India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and also promises to help them meet their energy requirements. But the most significant element in the new package is the decision to sell F-16s to Pakistan, bringing to an end a two-decade long dispute with Pakistan over the aircraft In the late 1980s, the US had agreed to sell 32 F-16s to Pakistan but Senior Bush, the father of the current president, had cancelled the deal following a dispute over Pakistan’s nuclear programme.

“We have decided to sell F-16s to Pakistan,” said one of the three officials. Although Pakistan is believed to have asked for 25 aircraft, the official said there was no limit to the sale and the US administration is willing to go beyond what Pakistan has asked for. “How many aircraft, what models and what equipment are they going to be equipped with, will be decided later in consultation with the government of Pakistan,” the official said. The official dismissed India’s objection that the proposed sale would disturb the current military balance in the subcontinent as incorrect.

He said India already had more aircraft than Pakistan would have even after receiving the F-16s. “The sale will not disturb the military balance.” Another official told Dawn that Pakistan will have to raise money for aircraft it wants to buy. Asked if Pakistan could pay for the aircraft from the $3.1 billion package President Bush pledged two years ago, the official said: “It can come from the package, it can from other sources. Pakistan has to decide that.”

“Pakistan is the second most populous country in the Muslim world. It is the only Muslim country with nuclear weapons,” one of the officials said while explaining the US decision to sell the F-16s.

Asked if the offer to sell sophisticated weapons to both India and Pakistan could be seen as a step towards their recognition as nuclear states, the official said he did not want to talk about formal diplomatic recognition.

But reflecting a major change in US attitude towards India’s and Pakistan’s nuclear status, the official said: “They tested their devices seven years ago … The US has to live in the world that exists, not what we want to see.”

“There is not a single country today that has seriously suggested that these (nuclear) weapons might disappear.”

The official said the United States wants to work with India and Pakistan to make them take their global responsibilities more seriously. The senior US official linked the proposed sale of the planes, manufactured by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, directly to President Musharraf’s cooperation after the terror attacks on the United States on Sept 11, 2001.

The sale of F-16s will not change the overall balance of military power in the region and are vital to Pakistan’s security as President Musharaff prosecutes the war on terror, said a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Officials at the State Department, explaining the decision further, but only on the basis of anonymity, said India is contemplating a very large purchase of fighter planes, but added that it is up to India to decide which country it will purchase them from.