MONTEREY (Mexico), Jan 13: Signalling improved US relations with India, US President George Bush announced on Monday an expansion in dialogue on missile defence and cooperation on non-military nuclear activities and high-technology trade.

"Cooperation in these areas will deepen the ties of commerce and friendship between our two nations, and will increase stability in Asia and beyond," Mr Bush said in a statement the White House released while he was here attending the Summit of the Americas.

In New Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee described the agreement as a milestone in bilateral ties. A senior US official in Washington said the nuclear cooperation would not involve India's nuclear weapons programme. He added that the United States remained concerned about that programme as well as India's ballistic missile programme.

Relations between Mr Bush and Prime Minister Vajpayee have moved ahead during the past couple of years. The president said the proposed cooperation would progress through a series of reciprocal steps. It will include expanded engagement on nuclear regulatory and safety issues and missile defence, ways to enhance cooperation in peaceful uses of space technology and steps to create the appropriate environment for successful high-technology commerce.

"The expanded cooperation launched today is an important milestone in transforming the relationship between the United States and India," Mr Bush said. "The vision of US-India strategic partnership that Prime Minister Vajpayee and I share is now becoming a reality."

The senior official in Washington said that what the United States was offering was contingent on specific Indian steps to protect against diversion or any unauthorized use of any US exports.-AP/AFP