Washington: The US is readying an F-16 fighter deal with Pakistan to consolidate alliances in preparation for strategic moves on Iran and North Korea, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld informed Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani recently in "a very private meeting", according to a media report.

During his recent visit to the US, Advani received the "disappointing" news from Rumsfeld that the US government was preparing to announce the resumed sales of new Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), 'Defence and Foreign Affairs' daily reported, quoting highly-placed Washington sources.

"The announcement (of sales) would be made during the visit of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who was due to arrive in Washington on June 24. The proposed sale would symbolise the commitment of the US Bush Administration to Pakistan, which is now being seen as increasingly central in the US emerging strategy to contain Iran and to isolate North Korea." the daily said.

"Significantly, Rumsfeld broke the news of the intended sale in a special, and very private, meeting Advani, when the Deputy Premier arrived at the Willard Hotel, in Washington, on June 8. The meeting was highly unusual, in that Rumsfeld wanted to tell Advani personally of the proposed sale to Pakistan, in order to avoid the news reaching the Indian government through less formal channels."

It said Indians were clearly unhappy at the news, but, given the requirement of maintaining good relations with Washington, they did not leak the news to the media.

"However, what remains unclear is what Advani hoped to achieve on his visit to Washington. It was possible that it was an effort to undercut the importance, which the Bush Administration was attaching to the Musharraf visit, and it was possible that Advani had heard of the proposed F-16 sale to the PAF and wished to persuade the US against it," the daily said.

Indian sources felt, however, that Advani did not achieve anything significant from his visit, other than to reassure the White House of India's importance as an ally, it said.

"There was no doubt of that, however, in the White House, nor in the US Congress, which is highly supportive of improved US-India relations. But this does not mitigate against the importance of the current US requirement to build its alliance with Pakistan both to help in containing Iran and in trying to offer it strategic alternatives to a strategic reliance on North Korea."

The daily, in a report on March 12, 2002, had noted that the PAF "now seems set to request from the US the purchase of a new batch of Lockheed Martin F-16s, possibly ex-US Air Force, but possibly more advanced than the F-16A/B Block 15 models currently in the PAF inventory."

Following an embargo since 1992, 28 F-16A/Bs were built for the PAF, but never delivered, and another 43 more on order were not completed. Pakistan was subsequently compensated for the embargoed delivery of its aircraft.

However, when ties with the US began to improve again after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US, the PAF made it clear that it wanted to buy newer model F-16s.

It now seems likely that the sale would be of current generation F-16s, it added.

PTI