Monday, April 11 2005 18:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: The United State's decision for sale of F-16 fighters to Pakistan was taken from a 'business point of view' and its offer for sale of the aircraft to India was still open, a senior State department official said today (Apr 11, 2005).

''It was a purely a business decision (to sell F-16s to Pakistan). We are open to the sale of the aircraft to India as well,'' Stephen Blake, director of the State department's South Asia bureau for India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Bhutan Affairs said in Kolkata.

Asked whether the sale of F-16s to Pakistan would not trigger an arms race between India and Pakistan, Blake said, ''Both countries have their security needs. Once they decide on a particular system, they put a request, this is not a threat to South Asia.''

Refusing to comment on the possibility of an Indo-Pak war, he said, ''Right now, it is not smart to speculate. Right now, we encourage the way things are going (about improving relations between the two countries).''

He said that U S was confident that India and Pakistan were capable of amicably settling any problem between them.

Lauding the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service introduced last week, Blake said that it would go a long way in strengthening people-to-people relations. ''Often so much of foreign relations is people-to-people. If hope this gets stronger.''

Blake, earlier visited St Xavier's School where he studied for three years in the early sixties, also answered questions from students of St Xavier's college during an interaction.