PAKISTAN: Islamabad decides to approach court over F-16s

20 March 1998
NEWS

The government has decided to go to court in the US to seek a refund of $658 million it paid for 28 F-16 fighter aircraft that Washington has refused to supply because of legal hurdles, Foreign Affairs Minister Gohar Ayub Khan said on 7 March.

'Yes, we have taken a decision,' Khan told Reuters. He said Pakistan had alternatives for its air force as the US had been only assuring Islamabad that it was looking into the issue, 'but there is no serious effort on their part either to give us the planes or return the funds'. Khan said as Washington had been unable to sell the planes to a third party so payments could be made to Pakistan, 'we are left with the last option which is of going to court in America'. He added that Pakistan would approach a court before the 'statute of limitation' period for such action expires in February next year.

'We have now studied the case, we have a very good case. And if we go to the court, there is no requirement for appropriation by Congress. The funds usually are there, and are there, and this will take us a maximum of one year to 18 months for a resolution [of the matter],' he said, adding that Islamabad could also talk to Washington and that 'an out-of-court settlement' could be reached for the reimbursement of the money.

He said Pakistan would buy alternative planes for its air force, whose chief recently voiced worries over what he saw as widening differences with India in air superiority. 'We will get them. We have things in the pipeline, and are hopeful they will come to fruition,' he said, but did not specify the source.

Pakistan has been in talks with France to buy the Mirage 2000-5s and has approached Russia for the purchase of Su-27 aircraft. But, according to Pakistani officials, it could not be done because of the high cost of the Mirages and Russia's unwillingness to sell the planes to Pakistan because of Moscow's traditional close ties with New Delhi.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.