New Delhi: US Senator Larry Pressler, who was the moving force behind the legislation that denied American military supplies to Pakistan for a long time, has proposed US-India free trade agreement and closer military cooperation as an offset against China.

"I would love to see Free Trade Agreement between India and US and we can (together) offset China in security matters," Pressler said at a conference organised by Nasscom last night (Oct 7, 2004).

He said India and US were on the verge of a golden age in their relations and irrespective of the outcome of US Presidential elections India would have a friend in the White House.

Pressler, who has been a member of the US Senate for 22 years and has been serving on the board of Infosys, said noise against outsourcing had died down in US and it was no longer an issue in the elections.

"Though during Democratic party campaign for Presidential elections the issue of outsourcing does crop up once in a while, it was because the party has close ties with labour unions," Pressler said.

He said while Republican party candidate, President George W Bush, was in favour of bettering relations with Asia, Democratic party candidate John Kerry was still tied to his party's worldview and was in favour of closer ties with Europe and greater involvement in North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).