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US wants to sell F-16s to both India, Pak: Report
In a balancing move, the US is expected to approve sale of F-16 fighter planes to both India and Pakistan, an unidentified US official said on Saturday. While New Delhi has not yet given its approval to purchase of the fighter planes, it has been for long opposing Islamabad's bid to acquire them from the US. So, in an attempt not to anger either of them, the US may put its offer to sell the planes to both of them, the official reportedly said. According to The Nation, during her next week's visit to India and Pakistan, the US Secretary of State will convey to New Delhi that Washington was willing to sell the planes (to India also) if it approved purchase of the fighter jets. India has traditionally bought most of its weaponry from Russia, and the Russian-made MiG-29M is one of the planes New Delhi is considering for the multi-role fighter deal. Other planes under consideration are Sweden's Saab Gripen and France's Dassault Mirage 2000-5, said the paper while quoting a report in a local tabloid. Pakistan has been craving for modern F-16 fighters to bring its military strength at par with India, but so far the move has been successfully stalled by New Delhi. The paper further reported that New Delhi has proposed to buy only 18 planes directly from the manufacturer "Lockheed Martin", and get the remaining 108 by building them in India under license. Lockheed Martin Corp, which builds the F-16 in Fort Worth, Texas, had been given US State Department approval in November to provide India information on the plane. The US Congress had cancelled a sale of about two dozen F-16s to Pakistan in 1990 due to Islamabad's nuke programme. Thereafter, tight sanctions on selling arms to both Pakistan and India were triggered when both countries tested nuclear devices in 1998. But, the strictures were eased later on. WORLD ARTICLES
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