U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said during a visit to India Thursday that he wants the two nations' defense ties to be "knitted" together.
Speaking at a joint press briefing in New Delhi after a 90-minute meeting with Indian Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Rumsfeld said, "We had an excellent discussion, and we discussed all kinds of things that are important for our two ministries."
While both Rumsfeld and Mukherjee refused to take any questions and were rather tight-lipped about their meeting, the U.S. defense secretary expressed his "conviction" that the two countries needed to develop "stronger and stronger cooperative relations," the Press Trust of India reported.
Rumsfeld cited numerous defense interactions, joint military exercises and exchanges as an indication of growing relations.
Hours before Rumsfeld's arrival, India's Foreign Minister Natwar Singh delivered an unmistakable message at the Indian Parliament that a U.S. sale of arms to Pakistan would sour relations between New Delhi and Washington. The United States has yet to make a decision on the sale.
© Copyright 2004 by United Press International
