The Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf said here yesterday that the country had acquired sophistication in tank manufacturing and will be exporting tanks soon even as incoming air force chief Air Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir said Pakistan will buy at least 30 F-7 MiG fighter jets from China to boost its air defences.

"At the moment we're looking at about 30 to 40 (MiGs) but later we may buy some more," Mir said, without elaborating on their price or when the deal would go through..

Musharraf told reporters during a visit to a major international weapons show here that two-year old U.S. sanctions over Pakistan's nuclear tests would have no effect on the country's defence and weapons exports.

"U.S. sanctions will not stop us building our own defence products and exporting them to the international market," he said. Pakistan hopes to use the IDEAS-2000 exhibition as a launching pad for its fledgling arms industry.

"The purpose of the defence exhibition is to show the world that we have reached the stage where we can export our defence products," he said. Two tanks on display at the IDEA-2000 defence exhibition will be up for sale, he said while visiting the country's first international show of military hardware. The tanks, Al Khalid and Al Zarrar, he said were the "best in the world.

Musharraf said that developed states go for hi-tech equipment. Since their requirements is not much, there is lot of scope for Pakistan as it can compete in equipment not being produced by developed states.

"Pakistan is the poor man's option to obtaining weapons at a cheap and economical rate" he said. "I am proud of exhibiting our defence production. I am proud to have created such environment," he remarked while talking to newsmen after a detailed visit and meeting members of foreign delegations at the Expo Centre.

He said Pakistan from negligible defence exports "can earn billions of dollars. We will create history after IDEAS 2000, by follow up, contact and marketing our defence exports." He said Al Khalid will be "the main battle tank for Pakistan army. Al Zarrar, another indigenious tank, was also the latest in armour protection, night vision and has 125mm guns."

The Super Mushak, a light, robust, single piston engine, two-three seat aircraft suited for a wide range of army cooperation missions and Grifo-7 radar, generic in nature which can also be utilised for production of other electronics-avionics systems, both manufactured at Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), nucleus of the country's aeronautical industry at Kamra, near Islamabad, was launched at International Defence Exhibition and Seminar IDEAS 2000 in Karachi by Mir, chairman of PAC.

Some Middle East states have shown interest in buying Super Mushak and a contract is in final stage with a Middle East country, Mir told newsmen. He disclosed that PAC has the capability to manufacture 20-30 Super Mushak aircraft per annum  and could be increased if needed. He said the Mirage Aircraft Rebuild Factory (MRF), a PAC facility, gives Pakistan the "honour of being the only country in the world with Mirage Rebuild Capability."

Meanwhile, a defence expert said yesterday that Pakistan has drastically reduced reliance on U.S. military hardware and has been basing its armament industry mostly on Chinese technology.

Interviewed by BBC on the sidelines of the exhibition, Maj.-Gen. Ali Hamid, the principal mover behind the show, said that the Pakistan army  was using anti-tank equipment and F-16 combat aircraft but the rest of the hardware is mostly indigenously-built with Chiense assistance.