QUESTION: Can I change the subject? There's another report in the Post today about India, and it raised an issue that I believe is not a new one at all. It came up, I think, last year maybe. This is the Arrow sales from Israel. And as I recall at the time that this first came up, the move from the US was to try and get Israel not to sell. And it appeared from the story today that that's shifted somewhat to try and get India not to buy.
First, is this going to be coming up, this issue, when the Secretary is in Delhi? And two -- well, first, is the story correct, second of all, in terms of what I just said? And then is it going to come up?

MR. BOUCHER: In terms of what you just said, I wouldn't describe the issue that way. The issue is an Israeli request, Israeli interest, in transferring the Arrow missile to India. That's a request that we're reviewing now based on its merits. We look at it in accordance with US laws, regulations and policy, and our international commitments, including the Missile Technology Control Regime.
We have been in contact with the Government of Israel regarding this request. We have discussed with them some of the issues that arise in our consideration of the request. I think we're all concerned about stability in South Asia. We're all concerned -- emphasize the importance of the Missile Technology Control Regime. So these are issues that we've been discussing with the Israeli Government. At this point we have not given a definitive answer to the Israeli request, but we consider to -- we continue to discuss the issue in Washington.
As far as the Secretary's trip to India, he'll be out there. He'll discuss, I am sure, a very wide range of global, regional and bilateral issues with his Indian hosts. I don't know if this would arise or not.

QUESTION: Because you said that it's been brought up with Israel several times. Has it been brought up with the Indians that you're aware of?

MR. BOUCHER: I don't really know, frankly.

QUESTION: Is the review triggered by the fact that US equipment or US technology is involved, or is it the general situation, or both, or what?
MR. BOUCHER: It's US technology. Anything built with US technology or cooperation, we have a say-so over further sale.
QUESTION: And you know, I should know this I guess, but when you referred to self-defense before, if weapons like this help India defend itself, would that be a point in the yes column, or does defense only go to --
MR. BOUCHER: I don't think I referred to self-defense and --
QUESTION: I know.
MR. BOUCHER: -- except in the other context.
QUESTION: You were talking about using American weapons for self-defense.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. No, the issues -- there are certain arms transfer issues under the Arms Export Control Act. The issues are also Missile Technology Control Regime, which is a more detailed set of international commitments that apply to missiles.
QUESTION: Can I go back --
QUESTION: Wait a minute. One last thing on this. When this came up before, tensions were higher, I think it's fair to say, between India and Pakistan than they are today, so it almost seemed like a given that the administration wasn't going to approve a deal to strengthen India at that point.
Is the situation between India and Pakistan a factor here anymore?
MR. BOUCHER: Stability in the region as a whole is a factor. These decisions, because they do involve long-term changes and introduction of weapons systems, have to be made with a larger perspective than this week's events or last week's events. Second of all, they have to made with regard to the international commitments that we have under the Missile Technology Control Regime, which is also based on a general approach that says the proliferation of certain kinds of missiles of certain classes is not generally in our interest, and people shouldn't sell them.
QUESTION: All right, I could pursue it, but I'll let it go.
MR. BOUCHER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Can I follow on Barry's question, though? The United States -- this administration believes strongly that missile defense is a good thing; you're embarking on building a huge missile defense regime. You're invoking or trying to get allies to help with that. How come missile defense is good in this situation, but it's not good if the Indians wanted it?
MR. BOUCHER: The Missile Technology Control Regime deals with the technical capabilities of missiles. And it's designed to prevent the expansion of a number of people and countries in the world who can build missiles that can deliver weapons of mass destruction and have certain ranges.
QUESTION: But this is missile defense --
MR. BOUCHER: It's -- if you can build a missile for defense, you can build it for offense. It's a technical issue regarding the missiles, and certain classes of missiles are covered.
QUESTION: The Chinese argued that the Bush Administration (inaudible) -- you said --
MR. BOUCHER: It's a difference between the missile itself and the system. I mean, you still have to design the rest of the system.
QUESTION: This consistency is a fruitless chase, but if you want to narrow it to missiles, fine. I mean, the United States --
MR. BOUCHER: Consistency is the soul of wit.
QUESTION: The spokesman of whenever, 20 years ago, came out here and -- well, after first denying it was true, and then finally acknowledged that the United States was providing Saudi Arabia with AWACs radar planes, which was totally unprecedented. There was no such airplane in an Arab or in an Israeli force, and the answer was because we're promoting stability in the region.
Now, if India is a democracy that you want to support, why wouldn't this be something you would look on favorably, unless you have some reason to believe it would be used against Pakistan?
MR. BOUCHER: As I've said, Barry, we're currently reviewing all the issues involved. We have to look at the merits of the sale. We have to look at US laws and regulation. We have to look at the international commitments, like the Missile Technology Control Regime. We've discussed some of the issues that arrived in this consideration with the Israelis, because it is their request that we're considering. And that's where we stand right now. I can't -- until we have a definitive answer yes or no, I can't give you all the arguments one way or the other. They're still being discussed. They're still being considered. The law's being considered, commitments are being considered, and the issues are being considered. Okay.