A top American general Monday painted a roadmap of India-U.S. military ties to "send a strong message to our potential enemies" in the region.

"Our engagement will send a strong message to our potential enemies that we are capable of defending ourselves and that India and the U.S. are going to protect their citizens against harm. That would be very stabilizing (for the region)," Indo-Asian News Service quoted U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Gen. Peter Pace, as saying.

Pace made the remark at a media briefing on the first day of a two-day visit to India. He was the highest-ranking American military officer to visit here in three years.

This is a golden opportunity for both India and the U.S. to partner, he said.

Noting that the armies, navies and air forces of the two countries were already engaged in joint exercises, he said, "As the next step forward, we are working to determine how we can improve these engagements."

During the briefing, Pace candidly answered a series of questions on India's possible role in patrolling the Malacca Straits, the testing of the nuclear-capable Agni-III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) - that, according to him would "not destabilize" the region - and the possible sale of the U.S. Patriot anti-missile system to India.

Pace arrived here from Singapore on a special U.S. Air Force jet Sunday night. His predecessor, Gen. (retd) Richard B. Myers, had visited India in July 2003.

On Agni-III, he said, "India is a sovereign nation and can decide for itself what weapons it needs. Missile tests do not necessarily destabilize the region".

Media reports late last month said the Agni-III test flight had been put off under pressure from Washington, which felt this would send all the wrong signals at a time when Congress, as also the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), was considering the proposed India- US civilian nuclear deal.

Responding to a question on the Malacca Straits, one of the world's busiest sea lanes between Malaysia and Indonesia, he said this "came up as an issue" during his talks here.

"Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are discussing and we are very comfortable with the fact that India has offered its assistance (in patrolling the 85-km long waterway)," he added.

As for the Patriot anti-missile system, he said this was not discussed as "the U.S. has already provided a classified briefing on its capabilities and it is now for the Indian government to respond."

Pace is the third senior U.S. military officer to visit India this year after US Pacific Air Force Commander Gen. Paul Hester and U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Gary Roughead.

India and the U.S. upgraded their defense ties in June 2005 by signing a 10-year agreement that envisages stepped up military cooperation in fields like missile defense, joint weapons production and technology transfer.

Source: Xinhua