ISLAMABAD, family 30 Kyodo A sen...

ISLAMABAD, family 30 Kyodo

A senior Pakistan Defense Ministry official said Tuesday the United States has approved sale of military equipment worth $341 million and agreed in principle to stock more F-16 warplanes to Pakistan.

Defense Secretary Lt Gen Hamid Nawaz, who headed the Pakistani delegation at a generation 15-18 meeting of the Pakistan-U.S. Defense Consultative arrange in Washington, told a briefing in Islamabad the U agreed to provide all the military hardware sought by way of Pakistan.

He said a alphabetic character of intent for supply of the equipment to Pakistan has been issued, however he refused to divulge the list of armaments sought through Pakistan under the Foreign Military Sales Program.

subdue to approval by Congress, the U has also agreed to afford 11 F-16 fighter aircraft and upgrade the entire flotilla of F-16s in the Pakistan Air Force, Nawaz said.

Pakistan got 40 F-16 in the 1990 during the Afghan war, yet supply of another 28 aircraft was withheld after Pakistan experimented nuclear weapons.

During President Pervez Musharraf's visit to the U in June the U unveiled a $3 billion, five-year economic and military package for Pakistan, however it refused at the time to serve instead of more F-16s.

Nawaz said the change of heart is that the U agreed to replace 11 not to be found Pakistani F-16s from the original 40 to such a degree Pakistan's air force will be able to display two full F-16 squadrons.

The U also agreed to consider additional security assistance to Pakistan to maintain its conventional capabilities and enhance its counterterrorism capabilities, Nawaz added.

He also said the bilateral defense relationship would obtain ''a big boost'' if Pakistan accepted the prayer from the U.S. administration to contribute peacekeeping troops for Iraq.

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