A US team will travel to India in September to discuss the details of possible sale of P-3 maritime patrol aircraft even as the US-India Defence Policy Group has decided to hold a missile defence workshop in New Delhi in the next six months.

This was decided at the two-day meeting of the US-India Defence Policy Group (DPG), which ended in Washington on Thursday.

Defence Secretary Ajay Prasad, US Under Secretary for Defence Policy Douglas Feith and other top military officers attended the meet, which discussed common military interests between the two countries.

Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, who dropped in at the meeting agreed that 'democracy, common principles and shared interests are the foundation of our new strategic partnership' and spoke of the strategic significance of India and the close Indo-US defence cooperation.

In a joint statement, the two sides warned of the danger that terrorists could acquire weapons of mass destruction and pledged to work to secure peace in South Asia.

"Global terrorism, state sponsors of terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are the key threats to international peace and security. US and India are drawn together in an effort to deal with these new circumstances," it said.

They reaffirmed the shared view that missile defence enhances cooperative security and stability and decided to hold a missile defence workshop in India in the next six months.

The Indian delegation also accepted invitations to the July 2004 Multinational Ballistic Missile Defence Conference in Berlin and the 2005 Roving Sands missile defence exercise.

The two sides discussed continued development of a defence supply relationship, including the government-to-government foreign military sales programme.

Also discussed was US sale to India of training materials and specialised equipment to support India's peacekeeping training capabilities.

A Defence Planning Exchange to permit U.S. and Indian defence experts to conduct discussions on defence strategy and planning was also taken up.

They stressed the value of various bilateral joint exercises and said: "Similar combined exercises of greater complexity and sophistication were agreed on for the next two-three years. These exercises have been providing experience and insights into concepts, doctrines, technologies and operating procedures that have been valuable for the Indian armed forces."

The Indian delegation in its press statement noted that there was a growing defence supplies and research and development relationship between India and the US. The first batch of Weapons Locating Radars had already arrived and therewas progress on India's request for Special Forces equipment as well as a Deep Submersible Rescue Vehicle, as indeed in many other areas.

The meetings, said the joint statement, emphasised the importance both sides place on the growing bilateral relationship. Next year, the DPG will hold its meeting in New Delhi.

It noted the long-range strategic concepts that guide the new approach to the US-India relationship and agreed that the work of the two countries together during the past year and planned activities for the next year are translating that strategic vision into action.

New proposals were exchanged at the meeting to develop a defence technology relationship to include production, research and development and, if possible, in due course, joint development.

A Master Information Exchange Agreement to facilitate information exchange on research and development was initialed by the two principals, Prasad and Feith.