WASHINGTON, Dec 6: India has urged the United States also to take into account relations between the two countries and New Delhi’s security concerns while deciding the scope and nature of its military ties with Pakistan, says an official Indian report.

The report, prepared by Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Digvijay Singh, was distributed this week among Indian journalists in Washington.

India’s concerns about US-Pakistan defence ties have been conveyed on a number of occasions and at various levels, the report says.

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the report says, also raised this issue with President Bush when he met him in New York in September this year.

Diplomatic sources in Washington say India is particularly concerned with Pakistan’s efforts to restore the conventional balance of power in South Asia, which already tilts heavily in India’s favour. Pakistan fears that New Delhi’s decision to buy Phalcon radar system from Israel will further disturb the balance and will considerably weaken its own defence.

The Indian statement says that New Delhi is aware of Pakistan’s interest in acquiring weapons and other defence equipment from the United States. In addition to military aid worth $375 million between 2002 and 2004, Washington is also considering a five-year military aid package of $1.5 billion to Pakistan from 2005, the report points out.

The report notes that so far US defence sales to Pakistan have been restricted to transport aircraft, radars and helicopters, although Washington has not announced the actual size and composition of the proposed military aid to Pakistan.

Indian officials also have drawn Washington’s attention to media reports saying that Pakistan is willing to provide nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in exchange for oil.

American officials have rejected such reports as false and baseless and have pointed out that both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also have denied these reports.

The Indian report says that while India has noted the subsequent denials, it continues to monitor such developments with concern.