WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government proposed shifting 230 million U.S. dollars from its counter-terrorism aid package to Pakistan to help the country upgrade its aging F-16 fighter jets, the White House confirmed on Thursday.

    "The F-16s that they have are used in counterterrorism operations," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino at a press conference. "We made them available to the Pakistanis and they need to be maintained."

    She made the remarks to confirm a report by the New York Times, saying President George W. Bush administration has proposed shifting 230 million dollars in aid to Pakistan from counter-terrorism programs to upgrading Islamabad's F-16 fighter jets.

    However, some U.S. lawmakers have voiced opposition to the shift and threatened to block it because they thought Pakistan does not use its F-16s to attack militants in remote tribal areas on concerns that civilian casualties would be resulted, said the report.

    Pakistan would get an aid of 300 million dollars this year from the U.S. for military equipment and training, but U.S. lawmakers have specified when approving the aid that it should go to law enforcement or counter-terrorism, it added.

    "The F-16s are used in their counter-terrorism operations, so we get support in our national security efforts," Perino said.

    She also noted that the Pakistani government "is facing a lot of pressure from a severe fiscal situation" as a result of food and energy costs hike, and "they need assistance from the United States."

    At the State Department, spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said that the 230 million dollars would be used to upgrade the jets' radars, communications, targeting systems, so they could have real-time intelligence and operate effectively at night.

    President Bush is set to meet the visiting Pakistan prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, on Monday to discuss the cooperation to fight Taliban and al-Qaida extremists, and Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions.