Thursday, March 17 2005 12:50 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Pakistan's expectations of acquiring F-16 fighter planes failed to materialise during talks between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and President Pervez Musharraf due to Washington's concerns over Islamabad's close nuclear cooperation with Iran.

"The (F-16s) issue has become more complex after the nuclear scandal," a media report said about Rice's talks with Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz yesterday (Mar 16, 2005).

"Although the hype about the sale of F-16s in Pakistan and India did not materialise yet the issue is still going to figure high in the meeting. The issue of F-16s has become far more complex after the nuclear scandal while the United States is ready to discuss the same with the two countries," the daily 'News' report said quoting officials.

It said Pakistan would continue to press Washington get more than 70-odd aircraft besides a total upgrade of its existing fleet. There was no indication here yet whether Rice has given any commitment to consider it in future. US stopped the sale of F-16s since 1990s.

In her talks with Musharraf, Rice has lauded Pakistan's leadership for the effort against terrorism but could not furnish any assurance over the delivery of F-16s, another newspaper 'Pakistan Observer' said in its report.

Rice had "no bounties in her bag" to offer Pakistan, it said.

The disappointment for Pakistan over a failure of securing a public commitment from US to supply F-16s followed a flurry of reports in the media in Islamabad ahead of Rice's visit that she would be offering the sophisticated fighters to both New Delhi and Islamabad.