France says arms sale to Pakistan held up

Defense News: PARIS (Reuters) - France's plan to sell 1.2 billion euro ($1.6 billion) worth of military equipment for Pakistan's JF-17 combat aircraft has been held up, a source at President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Friday.

A model of the Joint Fighter-17 (JF-17) Thunder aircraft is displayed at the Pakistan Aeronautical complex in Kamra, 80km (50 miles) west of Islamabad, in this May 9, 2005 file photo.

REUTERS/Mian Khursheed/Files

Newspaper Le Monde had reported earlier that France decided to suspend the sale of electronics and missiles -- the first section of a 6 billion euro contract -- under pressure from India and uncertainty over Pakistan's finances.

"It's a deal that's not ready from the Pakistani side," the source said, without giving further details. "For now, the state of the dossier doesn't allow us to carry on with it."

A consortium made up of French company ATE, arms group Thales and missile manufacturer MBDA was supposed to produce the equipment, Le Monde said. Thales declined to comment.

France was also worried over insufficient protection of its technology, with Pakistan pushing to assemble the equipment on its soil, the paper said.

In February, MBDA said it planned to upgrade India's Mirage 2000 fighters and was looking to expand in India.

Le Monde said talks over that upgrade also played a role in the decision.

(Reporting by Sophie Hardach and Yann Le Guernigou; editing by Philippa Fletcher)