WASHINGTON, June 28: The US administration plans to officially notify the Congress within 24 hours of its intention to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, according to official sources.

They told Dawn once the notification was issued, the Congress would have 30 days to reject the offer but if it failed to do so, the deal would be considered endorsed.

On March 25, 2005, the US announced a dramatic shift in its arms sale policy to South Asia by unveiling plans to sell F-16 aircraft to Pakistan.

Pakistan has been frustrated for years in its desire to buy new F-16s for its air force, which already has 32 aircraft of older models.

The US Congress cancelled a sale of about two dozen F-16s to Pakistan in 1,990 because of differences over Islamabad’s nuclear programme.

But Washington began to reconsider Islamabad’s request for the fighter jets after the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attack when Pakistan became a key ally in the US-led war against terrorism.

The US administration, however, has also been fostering better relations with India since President Bush’s first term. In March, President Bush signed an agreement to sell civilian nuclear technology to India but turned down a similar request by Pakistan.

On Tuesday, while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Islamabad, a key panel of the US Congress endorsed the proposed nuclear deal, clearing the way for its final approval by the full house.

The move to send an official notification to the Congress for the proposed F-16 deal seems aimed at placating Pakistan’s concerns stirred up by the initial congressional endorsement for the Indo-US nuclear agreement.

Pakistan could have received the aircraft earlier but after last year’s devastating earthquake, Islamabad delayed the plan to buy the F-16s, saying that it wanted to focus its resources on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas destroyed in the calamity.

It is still not clear how many F-16s are on sale. US officials had earlier said that they were willing to sell as many of the aircraft as Pakistan wanted.

Initial reports suggested that Pakistan may buy as many as 100 fighter jets but later reports reduced the number to as few as 25. But some media reports have quoted Pakistani officials as saying that they may buy a mixed package of 75 old and new planes.