NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL DEAR REDIFF THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
The United States has sent five helicopters and modern surveillance equipment to Pakistan to monitor the infiltration of Al Qaeda terrorists along the Afghan border.
A US transport plane carrying the surveillance equipment landed at the Islamabad International Airport on Wednesday, a report in the local daily Dawn said.
"The equipment reached on Wednesday afternoon did not include three fixed-wings planes. These planes would be delivered later," it quoted officials as saying.
The consignment is part of $75 million grant given by the US to step up monitoring facilities at the Afghan border, as well as to modernise the equipment at various Pakistani airports to identify fake travel documents.
The aircraft and the helicopters were scheduled to arrive last month. But their arrival was delayed due to the recent Indo-Pak tensions.
Despite the delay in the arrival of the planes, Pakistan has decided to set up an air wing under the Ministry of Interior to step up surveillance on the Afghan border.
While the US will supply equipment for the air wing, manpower, including pilots and technicians, will be drawn from the Pakistan Army. They will be trained in Quetta under the supervision of US experts, the report said.
Tell us what you think of this report
