15 July 2004	Thursday	26 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

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ISLAMABAD, July 14: Pakistan, concerned over nuclear rival India's plans to acquire a strategic radar system from Israel, is seeking a similar system from Sweden.

Air Commodore Sarfraz Ahmed Khan, spokesman for the Pakistan Air Force, said talks were under way with Sweden over the purchase of an Airborne Early Warning System, but no final decision had been taken.

A Swedish embassy spokesman confirmed that the matter came up for discussion when President Pervez Musharraf visited Stockholm last week. He said a Swedish parliamentary commission, which handles defence-related deals, had approved the sale of the radar system and it was now up to Pakistani authorities to decide.

"I can't say at what stage it's at, but the negotiations have been going on for quite some time," he told Reuters. Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have continued to focus on building their military capabilities despite a warming of ties since they went to the brink of a fourth war in 2002.

News of Islamabad's negotiations with Sweden comes after India announced one of its highest peacetime hikes in annual defence expenditure last week, saying it was needed to honour a slew of arms contracts.

ISRAELI DEAL: These included a deal signed with Israel - which has emerged as India's second biggest arms supplier after Russia - to mount Phalcon radar systems on a Russian-made aircraft to enable the Indian Air Force to pry deep into Pakistani airspace.

Pakistan, which itself raised its spending on defence by seven per cent for the financial year from July 1, said the sharp increase in India's defence spending could trigger an arms race.

Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said on Monday the scale of the increase by India was not justified, given recent bilateral peace moves and talks between India and China, which also have been traditional rivals. -Reuters