ISLAMABAD, 1 October 2003 — The United States has approved the sale of $341 million worth of modern military equipment to Pakistan, a senior official said in Islamabad yesterday.

Defense Secretary retired Gen. Hamid Nawaz said the deal was part of Pakistan’s needs discussed by the US-Pakistan Defense Consultative Group which met in Washington on Sept. 15-18.

Nawaz, who led the Pakistani team at the meeting, told journalists that US Congress’ approval would be needed for two items of defense equipment that Pakistan wanted but he did not identify them.

US clearance was also required for the upgrading of Pakistan’s F-16 fighter aircraft fleet which Belgium is ready to do, he said.

Pakistan has been seeking modern military equipment to correct the imbalance it says has been created by rival India’s acquisition of high-tech weapons systems from Russia and Israel. US President George Bush announced a $3 billion aid package, divided equally between economic and military assistance, for Pakistan, an ally in his war on terrorism.

In Washington, State Department officials said yesterday that US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage will visit Pakistan, Afghanistan and several other central Asian nations this week to discuss their cooperation in the US-led war on terrorism.

In Pakistan, Armitage would be following up on a meeting last week between Bush and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and discussing the growing problem of former Taleban and Al-Qaeda insurgents crossing the border into Afghanistan.

Armitage told US lawmakers he had confidence that Musharraf was sincere in wanting to help stop the flow from Pakistan’s largely lawless tribal areas but could not say the same for others in the country’s security services. “I personally believe that President Musharraf is genuine when he assists us in the tribal areas and he has from his side of the border,” he told lawmakers.

“But I do not think that that affection for working with us extends up and down the rank-and-file of the Pakistani security community,” Armitage said.

An upswing in violence has forced the suspension of aid work across huge swathes of southeastern Afghanistan.