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Pakistan used anti-terrorism aid to build conventional force

Washington: Pakistan has used a substantial amount of military aid from the U.S. meant to fight terrorism to build up its army with modern weapons and equipment for a conventional warfare against India, Pentagon documents have revealed.

All this was done with the knowledge of the then Bush Administration, which not only provided $1.9 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) but also signed agreements with Pakistan for military sales worth nearly $5 billion during the period, showed the documents accessed by PTI.

The Pentagon documents also revealed that a major post-9/11 American defence supply to Pakistan under FMF had nothing to do with its fight against terrorism.

While the Taliban and Al-Qaeda gained ground in the tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, Islamabad bought eight P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and their refurbishment worth $474 million. It also placed orders for 5,250 TOW anti-armour missiles worth $186 million. 2,007 of these have already been delivered and the rest are in the process of being supplied.

Besides buying more than 5,600 military radio sets worth $163 million, Pakistan bought six AN/TPS-77 surveillance radars worth $100 million and six C-130E transport aircraft and their refurbishment worth $76 million. Under the Excess Defence Articles (EDA), it was granted 20 AH-1F Cobra attack helicopters, which were then refurbished, according to the Pentagon documents. Pakistan also used a substantial chunk of America’s FMF to purchase up to 60 mid-life update kits for F-16 A/B combat aircraft valued at $891 million.

Islamabad also paid a whopping $1.43 billion to the U.S. to purchase 18 new F-16 combat aircraft and another $629 million for F-16 armaments. — PTI

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