India welcomes US offers of strategic partnership

India welcomes US offers of strategic partnership

NEW DELHI: India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has welcomed last week’s offer from the United States to sell warplanes, nuclear reactors and missile systems, India’s media reported on Thursday.

Singh initially expressed "disappointment" in a telephone call with President George W Bush on the offer because it included a decision by the United States to resume the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

However, speaking to reporters on Wednesday on his way to Mauritius, Singh changed his tone to one of cautious welcome. "India welcomes the development," Singh told reporters covering his visit.

"The fact is that the US has expressed its willingness to engage in matters related to increased cooperation in matters related to nuclear as well as non-nuclear issues. It is a fact they (US) want the strategic relationship to grow in depth. We have to find out what they want exactly, what they have in mind," Singh added.

Meanwhile, in Port Louis on Thursday, Singh renewed calls for New Delhi to be given a permanent seat on the UN Security Council as he visited Mauritius to seal a number of cooperation pacts.

"India has the will and the capacity to be a permanent member of the Security Council," he said in an address to the Mauritius parliament on the second of a four-day official visit to the Indian Ocean island nation.

"Our membership will enhance the Security Council’s effectiveness, credibility and legitimacy," Singh told the lawmakers, thanking them for Mauritian support for India’s bid for a seat on the UN’s most powerful body.