Pakistan would strongly
press for the sale of F-16 fighter planes, capable of
delivering nuclear weapons, during the US-Pakistan Defence
Consultative Group (DCG) meeting to be held in the first
week of next month.
"Pakistan will also
press for its legitimate defence requirements, particularly
the sale of advanced weapon systems, including F-16 fighter
aircraft, repair and up gradation of existing systems
and licenses for the import of spares," officials
were quoted as saying by local daily Dawn.
The DCG meeting would be
held from February 1 to 4 and would be co-chaired by US
Under Secretary of Defence Douglas J Feith and Pakistani
Defence Secretary Lt-Gen (retired) Hamid Nawaz Khan.
This is the first DCG meet
after the US granted Major Non NATO ally status to Pakistan,
which officials claim helps in faster clearance of weapons
for the country.
"The US administration
is more sensitive to our defence requirements and we hope
the trend will continue," Pakistan officials said.
The US recently cleared
USD 1.3 billion defence package for Islamabad which included
three P-3C Orion surveillance aircraft but was silent
on Pakistan's persistent demand for a fleet of F-16s.
The DCG working groups
on military cooperative consultations, counter-terrorism
and security assistance would review the progress of defence
cooperation and identify and plan new activities for the
future
