Saturday, March 26 2005 11:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The US is ready to sell F-16s as well as the more sophisticated F-18 fighter planes to India and is prepared to step up strategic dialogue on Defence requirements, including early warning and missile defence systems.

Unveiling plans to make India a "major power in the 21st century," Washington said it was ready for a "broader strategic relationship" with New Delhi and discuss with it global and regional security issues and Defence requirements and even working towards US-Indian Defence co-production.

US President George W Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had developed an outline for a "decisively broader strategic relationship" with India and presented it to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during her recent visit to New Delhi, a senior US official said.

The goal of the outline was "to help India become a major world power by the 21st century," he said. "We understand fully the implications, including the military implications, of that statement," he added.

"The US will respond positively to the Indian request for information on its bid for people who are willing to sell India its next generation of multi-role combat aircraft, and the US will work with American companies that seek to participate in the competition for this sale," he said.

"That is not just F-16s. It could be F-18s (a more advanced aircraft). But beyond that, the US is ready to discuss even more fundamental issues of Defence transformation with India, including transformation systems in areas such as command and control, early warning and missile defence," he said.

Elaborating the plan, the official said this includes political motives, like President (Bush) inviting Singh to visit him in July.

The President would also like to travel to South Asia later this year or early next year and those Presidential meetings, in turn, will be consolidating an enhanced dialogue on the kind of issues you would discuss with a world power, he said.

"The Administration made a judgement that the NSSP (Next Steps in Strategic Partnership), though very important, was not broad enough to really encompass the kind of things we needed to do to take this relationship to where it needed to go, and so the President and the Secretary developed the outline for a decisively broader strategic relationship," he said.

"The strategic dialogue will include global issues, the kind of issues you would discuss with a world power. Regional security issues, things like the tsunami situation or Nepal. And India's Defence requirements, high-tech cooperation, expanding the current High Technology Cooperation Group and manufacturing licenses, even working towards US-India Defence co-production," he said.

The official said India's objections to the sale of F-16s to Pakistan in relation to security in the region were considered by the Bush Administration before taking the decision.

"The challenge is how to embed the question of whether you sell F-16s to Pakistan in a broader conception of what do we want to do with Pakistan, but also with what do we want to do with India," he said.