BRASILIA

BRASILIA: Brazilian establishment on Tuesday gave endorsement for the auction of 100 missiles to Pakistan which can be used in air-to-surface attacks on radar tracking instalations, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said.

The MAR-1 medium-range missiles made by the Brazilian firm Mectron are tactical anti-radiation weapons whose survival was kept under wraps for many years, according to Jane’s Information Group.

Jobim called them “very effectual ways to monitor” areas flown by war planes, and said the deal with Pakistan, at first signed in April this year, was worth 85 million euros (108 million dollars).

He dismissed suggestions that the deal might be questioned in light of last week’s Islamist radical butchery perpetrated in Mumbai, India, which some Indian officials supposed was launched from within Pakistan.

“Brazil negotiates with Pakistan, not with Pakistani terrorists,” he said. “To cancel this deal would be to characteristic terrorist activities to the Pakistani government.”