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Aziz Haniffa India Abroad correspondent in Washington
The irrepressible "Mr.India" on Capitol Hill, Rep. Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, has asked President George W.Bush to support the sale of an Israeli Phalcon airborne warning and control system(AWACS) to India.
In a letter to the president, Pallone, founder and former co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said he hoped the administration would voice approval of the sale next month when Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer will be in Washington for meetings with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top American officials.
He pointed out that both New Delhi and Tel Aviv want to embark on this sale, but that officials in Israel have said that they would be concerned if the action damaged the nation's ties with the United States.
According to press reports, the final decision now lies with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
The lawmaker argued that supporting the sale would not only improve relations between the United States and India, but would also cut down on India's current dependence on Russia for its military equipment.
Pallone was evidently referring to meetings in Moscow earlier this month between high-ranking Russian and Indian officials where agreements were made for India to purchase 50 Su-30 MKI aircraft from Russia for $3.3 billion.
"I strongly believe that your Administration's support for the AWACS sale to India would signal the beginning of a new defense relationship with India," said Pallone's letter to the president.
"Bridging a new defense relationship would be remarkable," he said, "given the history of this nation's ties with the US in the past. Today, India and the US have many similar democratic interests and as a result, both countries could work together well against the threat from a military build-up in China or from rogue nations in Asia that threaten American interests."
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