Tuesday, March 15 2005 19:29 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India and the US will discuss further expansion of ties in security, economy, technology and other areas during the talks Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will have with leaders in New Delhi tomorrow (March 16, 2005).

The issue of urgent need for reforms in the UN, including the Security Council, will also figure in the talks between Indian leaders and Rice, who is on her first visit to this country after her new appointment.

She will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and hold wide-ranging discussions with External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh on the entire gamut of bilateral relations, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna told reporters in New Delhi.

The two sides will review the progress of Next Step in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) whose first phase has already come into effect from October last year, he said, adding the Phase-II of the process was currently underway.

He said under the NSSP, 185 higher end licences have been approved between October last year and January this year and only 22 have been denied.

The two sides will discuss the UN reforms, including expansion of the Security Council, for whose permanent membership India has staked a claim.

New Delhi has been lobbying hard for the seat and has secured the backing of several countries, including Russia, Britain and France. The US and China, two of the Permanent Five (P-5) members of the Security Council, have been non-committal on the issue.