Pakistan making efforts to purchase F-16s through third party: Defence Minister

ISLAMABAD - Federal Minister for Defense Khawaja Asif said that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) is engaging the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) to purchase F-16 jets through a Third Party Transfer (TPT) agreement after its deal with the United States for subsidized planes fell through earlier last month.

In a written reply submitted at the Senate, the minister said that the PAF was also exploring the avenues of acquiring Excess Defense Articles (EDA) of F-16s from other European nations.

At the occasion, Minister for Law and Justice Zahid Hamid informed the House that issue of violations of Line of Control (LoC) by India had been raised in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Speaking in the Senate during the question hour, the minister said a letter had already been written to the United Nations Security Council and was being circulated among all its members to apprise them about the gravity of the situation in Kashmir.

He said that India had made a 460-kilometer long fence along the Line of Control and only 500 meters away from it.

Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmad informed the House that NADRA had registered 127 million individuals, which include 105 million adults and 22 million minors against the estimated population of 200 million of Pakistani citizens in the country and abroad.

He said during Housing and Population Census process, there were 53 attributes (information) that would be collected through the door-to-door survey process.

However, he added NADRA had only 24 such attributes in its database and some partial information against 7 other attributes.

He said remaining 22 attributes that were required in the Population Census were not available in NADRA’s database.

Therefore, he said, NADRA database could not be used as a substitute of Housing and Population Census.

He added that from 10-05-2016 to 10-07-2016, 114 cases related to car thefts and robberies had been registered. In sectors I-9 & I-10, the crime rate was found comparatively higher during the period under report.