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.