Foreign secretary K Raghunath told the French defence special representative Jean-Bernard Ouvrieu, who was in town late last week for bilateral consultations, that New Delhi would take it amiss if Paris supplied contracted Mirage fighters and Agosta submarines to Pakistan, especially while the Kargil conflict was on.

The postponement of the Pakistani contract, analysts say, is a direct result of New Delhi invoking the letter and spirit of a bilateral security dialogue already in place. Sources said here it showed ``sensitivity to India's concerns'' over the fighting in Kargil.

Paris has officially conveyed its decision to Islamabad that its delivery of the defence equipment will be delayed, reports from Pakistan have confirmed. The decision is believed to have been taken at the ``highest levels'' in Paris. Thepackage was to have reached Islamabad yesterday.

According to a 1996 contract between France and Pakistan, 3 Agosta 90-B submarines worth $ 950 million and 40 re-engineered Mirage-III jets were to be sold to Islamabad. The first batch of 8 jets were sold in 1998, but none of the submarines have been delivered so far.

In fact, news reports from Islamabad had on June 27 stated that Paris would keep to delivery schedule. The next day, as it happened, Foreign secretary Raghunath was in Paris for foreign office consultations, where he raised the issue. Last week when Ouvrieu was in town with a high-level defence team, the matter was raised again.

Government sources said New Delhi clearly told the French government that if the Pakistani contract went ahead, it would violate the letter and spirit of the bilateral security dialogue that formally put into place when Defence minister George Fernandes went to Paris in January.

According to a press release issued soon after that dialogue, both sides underscoredthe fact that ``mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in defence is a vital element of the overall bilateral relationship.''

The release went on to say that the relationship is based on the ``understanding and appreciation of each other's security and interests, priorities and aspirations.''

The message was that France had to prioritise the sale of its defence equipment in South Asia. It was well-received, especially since France had been among the first Western nations in the wake of India's nuclear tests last year, to moderate the negative international fallout.

Not only did Paris show an ``understanding'' of India's reasons to go nuclear, officials here said, but continued to support New Delhi's case in fora such as the G-8. When Kargil blew up, once again, Paris was among the first to call on Pakistan to respect the Line of Control, a euphemism for a vacation of its aggression of Indian territory.