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The US sale of fighter jets to Pakistan would affect the peace process with India, the Indian defence minister said on Sunday, rejecting US arguments the planes were intended to be used against terrorists. The United States plans to sell F-16 fighter planes to Pakistan, one of its leading allies in the "war on terrorism" it launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
"The argument put forward by the United States that the weapons are being given to contain terrorist groups like the al-Qaeda and Taleban does not stand," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told reporters.
"Nobody uses F-16 planes and other sophisticated weapons meant for big wars to fight terrorists."
India had expressed its "sensitivities" on US arms sales to Pakistan during talks with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in New Delhi last week, he said.
"We told US defence secretary Rumsfeld that supplying weapons like F-16 fighter aircraft, lethal missile systems and naval reconnaissance aircraft to Pakistan at this juncture would affect the peace process," Mukherjee said.
"During his visit to New Delhi, he had met me, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister K. Natwar Singh and all of us impressed upon him that the weapons should not be given to Pakistan at this juncture."
India has stressed the sale of the planes could also "impact on the goodwill" between New Delhi and Washington.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004

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