US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday that Washington expected Islamabad to take \u201csustained action\u201d against all terrorist groups and that a recently proposed $450 million military sale package for the maintenance of Pakistan\u2019s F-16 fleet would help serve this purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cPakistan\u2019s F-16 programme, it\u2019s an important part of the broader US-Pakistan bilateral relationship, and this proposed sale will sustain Pakistan\u2019s capability to meet current and future counterterrorism threats by maintaining the F-16 fleet,\u201d Price said during a press briefing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a fleet that allows Pakistan to support counterterrorism operations, and we expect Pakistan will take sustained action against all terrorist groups,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Price made these remarks when asked to share some details about the proposed package, about which the US government has already notified Congress.<\/p>\n
Reiterating that the Congress had been notified of the proposed sale, Price said: \u201cPakistan is an important partner in a number of regards, an important counterterrorism partner.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as part of our longstanding policy, we provide life cycle maintenance and sustainment packages for US-origin platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday last week, an official statement by the US Defence Secu\u00adrity Cooperation Agency delivered the required certification of this possible sale to Congress.<\/p>\n
The agency clarified that \u201cthe proposed sale does not include any new capabilities, weapons, or munitions\u201d.<\/p>\n
The follow-on support for Pakistan\u2019s F-16 fleet would include participation in F-16 Aircraft Structural Integrity Programme, Electronic Combat International Security Assistance Programme, International Engine Management Programme, Engine Component Improvement Programme, and other technical coordination groups.<\/p>\n
The support would also include aircraft and engine hardware and software modifications and support; aircraft and engine spare repair\/return parts; accessories and support equipment; classified and unclassified software and software support; publications, manuals, and technical documentation; precision measurement, calibration, lab equipment, and technical support services; studies and surveys; and other related elements of aircraft maintenance and programme support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Wednesday that Washington expected Islamabad to take \u201csustained action\u201d against all terrorist groups and that a recently proposed $450 million military sale package for the maintenance of Pakistan\u2019s F-16 fleet would help serve this purpose. \u201cPakistan\u2019s F-16 programme, it\u2019s an important part of the broader US-Pakistan bilateral […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-283391","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n