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WASHINGTON, Dec 26 (Reuters): The Bush administration is manoeuvring to balance possible big new US arms sales to archrivals India and Pakistan in the new year.
In the past week, US Vice President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have made separate visits, not announced in advance, to Pakistan, a key ally in the US-declared war on terrorism.
Islamabad will make up its mind in the coming year on a US offer to resume F-16 fighter aircraft sales after a 16-year break, Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri was quoted by the Associated Press of Pakistan as saying after Cheney left.
The single-engine multi-role F-16 is built by Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. New purchases would boost a fleet of about 32 F-16s acquired before Congress cut off sales in 1990 over Pakistan's nuclear programme.
In May, the Pentagon told Congress it was proposing to let Pakistan buy 300 AIM-9M-1/2 "Sidewinder" heat-seeking, air-to-air missiles and 60 Harpoon missiles with a combined value of up to $226 million.
Separately, the United States is poised to push in the new year for major arms sales to India, a hedge against China's growing regional military clout and influence.
The Bush administration is weighing, among other things, whether to let India buy a state-of-the-art radar system as part of a US bid for a potential $5 billion contract to supply 126 multi-role fighters, Kohler said in the interview.
An Indian purchase of either the F-16 or the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet built by Boeing Co, the other US fighter on offer, would cement a sea change in US-Indian bilateral ties since the end of the Cold War.
Meanwhile, Pakistan has sought the support of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA in its quest for being treated at par with India by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) which controls developing countries' access to nuclear technology, according to a media report.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was aware of Pakistan's needs for nuclear technology to meet its growing demand for energy, the 'Dawn' daily Sunday quoted "informed sources" as saying.
While Pakistan has taken up the issue of acquiring from the US nuclear energy for peaceful purpose, it is also asking IAEA to use its influence with the Bush administration as well as other members of the NSG to get a fair treatment, the report said.
Pakistan has informed the IAEA that it has launched a Rs 178 million programme to reclaim 25,000 acres of waterlogged and saline land across the country.
The sources told the paper that the US and other Western countries should treat Pakistan at par with India to ensure equilibrium in the region.
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