It seems more viable than getting something from america. US has a history of denying us weapons it is not just 8 F-16s.
This post is typical of the prevailing anti- US sentiment among the Pakistanis which IMHO shows that we have very short term memory. In actual fact United States has a long history of supplying Pakistan with weapons. 1965 war that we so fondly celebrate each year wast fought almost entirely with US supplied Sabres, B-57s & Herks of the PAF; US supplied Pattons, Sherman and big guns of the Pak Army & US financed submarine & warships of the PN.
Remember, US had also approved the sale of 8 F-16; however she declined to finance the sale as well.
US employs economic aid, military aid and the sale of military hardware as tool to advance her global policy. It is about time my compatriots understood that there is no such thing as “Free lunch". If you go against US interest, US will cut off the supplies. One can therefore correctly say that US is "Fair weather friend” that's about it.
It may be tough for Pakistan but that is "Realpolitik”. Pray tell me, would you sell Thunders to a hostile Afghan gov’t?
These days India is needed as a counter against the growing Chinese influence in the region also Indian coffers are full of dollars, hence India is free to buy US equipment. Remember at one time Iran was also in similar position and the Shah bought state of the art F-4s as well F-14’s. Should you have billions of readily available dollars allocated to buy defence hardware; if not the US, France or Britain and if all else fails then Russia will be there to sell.
However, the real problem with the US & Western equipment is that most of the European military hardware also has some parts of the US origin, hence is prone to the US sanctions. France is an exception and in my opinion that is one of the factors why India went for Rafael.
