Phalcons sale to be part of agenda: Bush-Musharraf meeting
By Masood Haider
NEW YORK, May 31: Foreign Secretary Riaz Husain Khokhar said on Friday that the sale of three Israeli Phalcons (AWACS) to India would be part of the agenda when President Pervez Musharraf meets US President Bush at Camp David on June 24.
The United States last month cleared the estimated $1 billion sale of three Phalcon planes to India, and a US delegation was scheduled to go to Israel to have “technical” discussions on the deal.
In the wake of reports that Israel was to sell AWACS to India, China cautioned countries against doing anything that would endanger peace and stability in South Asia. “We hope that the various countries will make their efforts to preserve stability and peace in South Asia.” Two years ago United States nixed an AWACS sale deal between China and Israel.
Talking to reporters at the UN headquarters, Mr Khokhar said he would meet Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in Washington as well as US National Security officials at the White House next week.
In New York, Mr Khokhar briefed UN Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Frechette, on situation in South Asia and the initiatives taken by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali for resuming a bilateral dialogue with India. He noted that the initiatives taken by Prime Minister Jamali and Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee had led to an improvement in the atmosphere in the region.
