ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: The Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has expressed reservations over the proposed purchase of F-16 fighter aircraft from the United States and called for a review of the decision through an open parliamentary debate in a bipartisan committee.

In a statement on Monday, spokesperson for the party and former senator Farhatullah Babar said the PPP was committed to a strong and viable defence but its reservations were based on the premise that the cost of the aircraft and the terms and conditions of the sale were not in the national interest.

“The party, therefore, demands that the parliamentary committee and the parliament itself must thoroughly debate the proposed purchase before any final decision was taken. The fundamental issue is where are we going to get the spare parts for these aircraft if, God forbid, war ensues between India and Pakistan,” he said. When the 1965 war broke out between the two countries, he said, Washington imposed an arms embargo that hurt Islamabad. “It is logical to conclude that since Washington is seeking a security relationship with New Delhi, it is all the more unlikely to consider providing spare parts were a conflict to erupt,” he said.

Mr Babar said Islamabad also needed to keep in mind that after decades of successful production, the F-16 production line appeared to be approaching its end. As currently projected, the F-16 production line is scheduled to close in 2008.

The proposed Pakistani sale could keep the line open another year. If the production line itself is coming to an end there seems little point in Islamabad purchasing the fighter aircraft, he said.

The PPP appreciates that Pakistan needs to feel secure in its defence capabilities and that the air force does not have modern aircraft after the scuttling of the French mirage sales. However, it has reservations on whether model being considered and whether the present purchase price or terms and conditions of the proposed sale are beneficial to the country, he said.

According to media reports, the sale of F-16s, even of the older models, will be governed by stringent safeguards. The planes will also be denuded of cutting-edge offensive capability, including the capability to deliver nuclear weapons.

Furthermore, he said, they would be subject to the US government approval on the matter of if and when they could be flown overseas. In a July 20 testimony to the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee on the initial security plan for the aircraft, a US government official highlighted semi-annual F-16 inventories and more frequent looks at associated systems by US personnel. These F-16s would not have electronic warfare (EW) programming capabilities for their radar warning receiver (RWR). This means that these aircraft will have a pre-installed threat library and its RWR will only be able to identify non-NATO aircraft, he said.

“If Pakistan, as per the recent statement of air chief, is planning to buy as many as 70 F-16 aircraft then that is going to cost the nation a staggering amount between three to five billion dollars. This is at a time when a gigantic amount has been committed to building a second General Headquarters (GHQ) in Islamabad.’’