Fernandes' visit: U.K. to push Hawk trainer jet sale

By Thomas Abraham

LONDON, JUNE 13. The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, arrives in Britain today on the first official visit by an Indian Defence Minister to the U.K. in over a decade. Mr. Fernandes will meet his British counterpart, the Defence Secretary, Mr. Geoff Hoon, the Minister in charge of licencing arms exports, the Trade and Industry Secretary, Mr. Stephen Byers, and members of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) during his four-day stay. The thrust of Mr. Fernandes' visit will be to put forward New Delhi's security concerns, and make it clear that the defence policy will be determined by India's threat perception. Though neither India nor Britain has said publicly, both sides are likely to discuss arms export. Britain has been pushing the sale of Hawk trainer jets to India.

As the Foreign Office Minister, Mr. Peter Hain, said in response to a parliamentary question last month: ``We want to ensure that this œ 1 billion deal is successful''. He also said that British Ministers, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. John Prescott, had pushed the Hawk's case during visits to India. ``I raised the matter when I visited India in November,'' Mr. Hain said. ``The same matter was raised and the Indian Government was pressed on it by... the Deputy Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Stephen Byers) and ...the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr Robin Cook) during his recent visit''.

While Britain is lobbying for the sale of trainer jets, India has had concerns about British export regulations and its possible impact on the sale of spare parts and the maintenance of existing supplies of British equipment. Mr. Fernandes may raise the issue with Mr. Stephen Byers. Britain has acknowledged that despite the good relations, it still pays attention to arms export applications to India, including items with potential dual civilian and military use. Mr. Hain said in Parliament recently that ``despite our close friendship and partnership, we pay particular - and more than usual - attention to export licence applications for arms to India. We want to ensure that arms we sell for legitimate purposes are not used for illegitimate purposes in Kashmir''.

Britain appears to have maintained a tight check on the export of sensitive material, as was revealed by a parliamentary exchange between Mr. Peter Hain and the MP for South Dorset, Mr. Ian Bruce. Mr. Bruce revealed that a company in his constituency, Thorn, was forbidden by the British Government from selling cable to the Indian Oceanographic department because it was dual use and could be used for detecting submarines.

Mr. Fernandes will use his meetings to point out the inconsistency of Britain on the one hand pushing the sale of its jet trainer aircraft, while obstructing the sale of other innocuous equipment.

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