NEW YORK: The Bush administration plans to shift nearly $230 million in aid to Pakistan from counterterrorism programs to upgrading that country's aging F-16 fighter planes.

According to a report appearing in the New York Times, the State Department officials insist the plan will greatly enhance the F-16s’ ability to strike insurgents in FATA and tribal areas.

The officials said Congress is weighing the plan. The aid was sanctioned for the up gradation of two P3 petrol planes and Cobra helicopters.