U.S. May Sell Pakistan the Abrams Tank : First Deal Abroad for the M-1A1 Would Bolster Arms Package

The United States may sell Pakistan its top-of-the-line M-1A1 tank, which has not yet been made available to any foreign country, a senior U.S. official said Thursday.

The tank, known as the Abrams, would be part of a growing arms package for Pakistan, which borders on war-torn Afghanistan, Iran and China and which feels threatened by India, its neighbor to the east.

After Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger concluded two days of talks here with Pakistani officials, including President Zia ul-Haq and Prime Minister Mohammed Khan Junejo, the prime minister said that Pakistan’s first choice for airborne early warning equipment is the sophisticated AWACS--a four-engine Boeing 707 known by the military designation E-3A.

The aircraft is equipped with long-range radar that would give Pakistan early warning of approaching Soviet planes and Soviet-supplied Afghan jets. The other airborne warning plane available, the Hawkeye or E-2C, is cheaper and less sophisticated.

Entered Pakistan Airspace

Junejo told reporters Thursday that Soviet aircraft with Afghan air force markings have entered Pakistani air space on 620 occasions in the first nine months of this year; there were 420 such incursions in 1985.

The M-1A1 tank, which is used by U.S. troops in West Germany, “is what they want,” the U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

“We want to provide it,” he went on. “I think it’s going to happen.”

He added, however, that President Reagan has not yet given his approval.

Any such sale would be certain to bring sharp criticism from India, which would probably see the tanks as a threat. Before coming to Pakistan, Weinberger visited India in an effort to improve U.S. military relations there.

At a news conference after wrapping up his meetings here, Weinberger refused to specify what weapons would be sold to Pakistan. He said only that equipment needed “to protect the borders” is under consideration.

The United States and Pakistan are nearing the end of a five-year, $1.4-billion weapons program under which Pakistan purchased 40 F-16 jet fighter planes. The two nations are working on a new package under which Pakistan would purchase about $1.8 billion in armaments over the next six years.

AWACS Would Raise Cost

However, officials said that if the AWACS (airborne warning and control system) aircraft is included in the sale, the total cost would increase, unless other weapons are eliminated, and Pakistan would be forced to seek assistance from its allies--most likely Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, President Zia told reporters traveling with Weinberger that his government wants some form of early warning aircraft and that, until it could be delivered (in about three years), he would like assistance from U.S forces in patrolling Pakistani airspace against Soviet and Afghan incursions.

Weinberger told the reporters the United States has not yet decided what role it will take in Pakistan’s effort.

Any significant U.S. military presence here would be politically sensitive in Pakistan, and the prime minister, in an interview, was more cautious than Zia. A U.S. official here acknowledged that any role for the U.S. Air Force, including overflights by planes that would not land in Pakistan, could become a local political issue that “the opposition would jump on.”

Pakistan, which has looked to the United States for support in its four decades of disputes with India, has in recent years become a focus of U.S. opposition to the Soviet military activity in Afghanistan.

3 Million Refugees

Since the Soviet Union moved troops into Afghanistan in 1979, approximately 3 million refugees have streamed into Pakistan, and the border area near Peshawar has become the central point of covert arms shipments to guerrillas fighting the Soviet-supported government of Afghanistan.

The United States is said to be sending the Afghan guerrillas, through Pakistan, about $470 million a year in covert aid, more such secret spending than at any time since the Vietnam War.

The Administration’s concern about the course of the war in Afghanistan was evident throughout Weinberger’s visit here, his second as secretary of defense.

During his news conference, Weinberger appeared to confirm that the resistance in Afghanistan is receiving Stinger ground-to-air missiles. He was asked whether Pakistan is holding up delivery of arms, including Stingers, for the rebels, known as the moujahedeen.

“No,” he said, “there’s no suggestion I’ve heard of that sort.”

He added that some problems had been encountered in training to use Stingers.

As the news conference ended, he returned to the topic, at the urging of his spokesman, Robert B. Sims, and said: “The question was, do we believe that Pakistan was holding up any U.S. aid to the moujahedeen, and the answer was, no, I don’t believe so. The aid that we give is the aid in the form of helping with the refugee problem. . . . “

Asked specifically whether Stingers were being given to the moujahedeen, he said, “No, we can’t do that,” apparently referring to congressional opposition.