India, U.S. agree to cooperate on defence

Putting behind the chill in their ties following India's nuclear tests in May 1998, India and and the United States reached agreements on defence cooperation during the talks India's External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh had with the U.S. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Stating this Singh, who is also India's Defence Minister, said the details of the agreements would be revealed after clearance by the Indian cabinet in New Delhi.

It was also agreed at Friday's talks that the defence ministers of the two countries would hold regular dialogue as in the case of the external affairs minister and the secretary of state, he said.

The two sides decided on exchanging visits by the chairman of the United States joint chiefs of staff and his Indian counterpart. Singh said this was the first meeting between the defence ministers of the two countries since 1992.

Singh said he was "more than satisfied" with the discussions he had here with President George W. Bush and other senior members of the U.S. administration.

"I go back (today) more than satisfied," Singh told a news conference at the end of a day in which he had met with Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, in addition to the U.S. President. "There have been very substantial results," from the meetings, he added.

Singh said the fact that President Bush had found time to have an unscheduled meeting with him of some 40 minutes, on a day when major international issues were demanding his attention, was an indication of the Bush administration's "sincere commitment" to U..S-India relations.

"I was very impressed by the grasp which President Bush had of the totality of Indian-U.S. relations" and of India's regional role, he said. He said he had not himself raised the subject of the U.S.-led sanctions against India, but both Powell and Rumsfeld had asked his opinion: "I did tell (Powell) then, for the first time, that I do not feel sanctions serve the interests of India or of the United States.

"To our mind, they are counter-productive." Many of the U.S.-led sanctions on India, imposed after it conducted nuclear weapons tests in 1998, were waived by former president Bill Clinton. Remaining sanctions include restrictions on lending by international financial institutions and on foreign investment in India's military.

Singh said that in his meeting with Bush, the question of the U.S. decision not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming was raised, as was the proposed U..S National Missile Defence programme. Bush presented his views on both subjects, Singh said.