In separate meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna on Tuesday, Gates discussed "regional security" and offered reassurances over the target date of July 2011 for starting a drawdown of American forces, a US defence official said.

Gates, mindful of India's concerns about an early US exit, pledged the United States would remain committed to Kabul with major economic and diplomatic support even as its military presence is gradually scaled back after mid-2011, the official told reporters.

He told Singh and Krishna that "we intend to be involved in the region for a very long time," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The United States, which armed Afghan Islamic fighters against Soviet forces in the 1980s, had made the mistake of turning away from Afghanistan after the Soviets were driven out but would not repeat that mistake, Gates said, according to the official, who attended the meetings.

"The secretary anticipated (India's concern) ...and with both ministers was able to stress that mid-2011 was the beginning of a process, that we have learned from our experience in 1989, that we're not going to leave the region," the official said.

India's view was that Washington needed to "stay the course" in Afghanistan and Gates' comments "resonated very well" with his hosts, the official said.

The prime minister and foreign minister for their part offered to keep up India's major reconstruction aid for Afghanistan, the official said.

Before landing in New Delhi for his two-day visit, Gates described India as a vital strategic partner fighting the threat posed by Islamist militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Gates, who was due to meet Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Wednesday, also discussed expanding military cooperation with India to include joint efforts to safeguard sea lanes and ports, cyber networks and space, the official said.

"We want to develop cooperative programmes particularly in the maritime area, the cyberspace area and the space area," the official said, without offering more details.

The 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which left 166 dead and which India has blamed on the Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, underlined the importance of maritime security, he said.

"The attack in Mumbai came from the sea. So there's a definite need to track the movement of people who want to do harm to us out there," the official said.

US officials said the visit reflected a blossoming relationship between the two countries that has dramatically transformed since the mutual unease of the Cold War.

Defence ties have expanded following the attacks of September 11, 2001, and a deal in July between the two countries helped clear the way for the sale of hi-tech US weaponry to India.

Gates told the prime minister and foreign minister that there were more opportunities for defence trade and promised to help remove US legal barriers blocking India's access to some military technology, defence officials said.

A number of cooperation agreements were under discussion that would permit India to purchase a wider array of weaponry with sophisticated technology, the officials said.

The Pentagon chief wanted "to enable India to take advantage of the best technology that we can offer," the defence official said.

Gates cited the recent sale of US-made transport planes to India as a success and said American industry appeared "well-situated" in a competition for a lucrative contract to build fighter jets for India, the official said.

earlier related report
Pakistani soldier shot dead in Kashmir: military
Islamabad (AFP) Jan 19, 2010 - A Pakistani soldier was shot dead on Tuesday when Indian troops fired across the de facto border that splits disputed Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals, Pakistan's military said.

The incident took place near Rawalakot town along the Line of Control (LoC) separating the Indian and Pakistani-controlled zones of the Himalayan region.

"Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing across the LoC on the Pakistani side today (Tuesday)," the Pakistani military said in a statement.

"One Pakistani soldier embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while another one was injured due to Indian firing."

Pakistan has lodged a complaint with India and asked for a meeting between senior military officials from the two nations, the statement said.

Last week, Indian officials said a border guard has been shot dead by Pakistani soldiers, days after accusing their Pakistani counterparts of firing at least four rockets across the border into Indian Punjab province.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over mainly Muslim Kashmir, which is held in part by each country but claimed in full by both.

The two countries agreed to a ceasefire along the LoC in November 2003 and launched a slow moving peace process in 2004, but there have been sporadic clashes in Kashmir with both sides accusing each other of violating the deal.

The peace talks are also currently suspended, after relations between the historic rivals were battered by the November 2008 attack on the Indian financial capital Mumbai, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based militants.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and funding Islamist militants who are engaged in a two-decade-long insurgency against Indian rule over parts of Kashmir that has left tens of thousands of people dead. Pakistan denies the charges.

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