US to divert Pak anti-terror aid for F-16

Ahead of the new Pakistan Prime Minister's maiden visit to the US, the Bush Administration has announced plans to divert nearly USD 230 million in counter-terror aid to Islamabad for upgrading the country's aging fleet of F-16s, drawing flak from the lawmakers.In a notification to Congress, the State Department said that upgrading the avionics, electronics and radar systems of Pakistan's older F-16s would ''increase the survivability of the aircraft in a hostile environment'' and make the ''F-16s a more valuable counter-terrorism asset.Congressional approval is required for the shifting of the funding and the first impression is that this idea is unlikely to go over well in Foreign Affairs and Appropriations Committees of the House of Representatives and in the Senate.The general consensus on Capitol Hill is that the planes are hardly the appropriate ones that are to be used in counter terrorism and it is a well-known fact that Islamabad has traditionally used them only in an Indian context.The timing of the action also led some lawmakers to suspect that the deal was meant to curry favour with new Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who will meet with President George W Bush in Washington next week, a US media report said.Congress was initially informed earlier this year that some USD 225 millions would be used to refurbish two of Pakistan's P-3s, new navigation aids and overhauling of the Cobra attack helicopters.But the State Department changed its mind and notified Congress last week that these funds would be applied to the F-16s instead.