Friday, January 21 2005 18:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangalore: Chilean President Ricardo Lagos today (Jan 21, 2005) said his country was keen on developing and intensifying its ties with India in diverse areas including Information Technology and Biotechnology.

Speaking to reporters on his arrival at the airport in Bangalore, he spoke of the accomplishments of Karnataka in the fields of IT and BT and said Chile looked forward to developing and intensifying close ties with India including these areas.

Asked about the proposal of India to sell Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Dhruv, to Chile, he said his country was still considering it and would take a final decision.

According to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), it has been interacting with Chile for possible cooperation in HAL's indigenously designed and developed Dhruv. HAL had recently conducted a live demonstration of Dhruv in Chile.

Later, Lagos visited software major Infosys at the Electronics City on Bangalore outskirts.