US withholds funds for eight F-16 fighter jets purchase

The United States (US) administration has decided to withhold funds assigned for Pakistan's purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets.

The State Department official said that the Obama administration is still willing to sell the fighter jets to Pakistan but will not contribute US funds towards the deal.

The US administration took this step with directions from US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker because only Congress has the authority to dispense or withhold the funds, report s Dawn.

As a result of this move, Pakistan may have to foot the bill of 700 million dollars for the eight fighter jets.

Pakistan would have paid 270 million dollars while the US would grant the remaining 430 million dollars for the purchase.

The 742 million dollar earmarked for American military aid to Pakistan in the 2016-2017 budget has also been put on hold but may be released if Congress changes its mind, the State Department official said, adding that the Obama administration is working with Congress in this regard.

The sale of weapons is a long process and we cannot comment on such unique circumstances at this time, the spokesperson for the Pakistan embassy in Washington, Nadeem Hotiana said.

The F-16 sale faced stiff resistance in the US Congress earlier this year, when lawmakers moved resolutions both in the House and the Senate, seeking to block the sale.

The US Senate in March blocked a bid to derail the sale, but Corker had vowed to block the use of US funds to finance the deal.