Tony Blair used a private meeting with his Indian counterpart to push the sale of British Hawk jets while urging peace with Pakistan, it has been confirmed. The prime minister raised the deal - estimated to be worth $1bn - with Atal Behari Vajpayee at Chequers on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of troops remained at a stand-off in the disputed region of Kashmir. Downing Street and the Foreign Office stressed the Hawks, made by Britain's biggest defense manufacturer BAE Systems, were training jets. But they can easily be converted for combat, as has happened in Indonesia. And Mr Blair's intervention is likely to revive Labour unease over arms sales. Officials stressed any deal would be subject to the usual "rigorous" controls. But two thirds of the jets would be built in India by the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics company, according to The Guardian newspaper. A Downing Street spokeswoman said: "We make no apology for supporting a legitimate defense industry." (BBC)