Friday, December 9 2005 11:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday (Dec 8,2005) held talks with his Norwegian counterpart Jens Stoltenberg to explore ways of further enhancing bilateral relations, particularly in the field of trade and energy cooperation.

During the wide-ranging discussions, the two leaders reviewed the bilateral relations and talked about steps to enhance these.

Ahead of his meeting with Singh, Stoltenberg said he was here to "deepen and broaden" bilateral relations and looked forward to negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with one of the world's fastest growing economies.

He said Norway was a leading energy producer and could help in meeting its growing requirements in the area.

Stoltenberg, who arrived here on a three-day visit, also called on President A P J Abdul Kalam and met United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi during the day.

The Norwegian Prime Minister said he would be looking for 'mutually commercial beneficial agreements' between the companies of the two countries and the Governments' role would be to facilitate those.