President Clinton and the visiting Pakistani prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, have had talks in Washington on nuclear non-proliferation and economic issues.

Mr Clinton said before the talks that the nuclear competition between Pakistan and India remained a threat to the world.

But he said that he was encouraged by the progress made on reducing tension in the region.

Also on the agenda for the talks was compensation for Pakistan's purchase of American F-16 fighter jets which it never received because of Congressional sanctions.

New Zealand says it is buying some of the aircraft, allowing a partial refund to Islamabad.