The situation in postwar Iraq, the need for humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and the issue of Kashmir, where Islamic rebels have been waging an anti-Indian rebellion since 1989, were also discussed, Alliot-Marie told a media conference.

But India skirted the thorny subject of French military assistance to rival Pakistan during the minister's talks with Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and her Indian counterpart, George Fernandes.

"This topic was not touched and the talks were on intensification of our relationship," Alliot-Marie said in reply to questions whether India pressured France about its sale of Augusta submarines to rival Pakistan.

The defence minister told reporters: "Our long-term defence ties are going to get deeper because we have similar vision that there should be international democracy in the world."

"But a country will be heard only if it has credible defence and so Indian and French ties are very, very important," she said.

Alliot-Marie said the possible sale to India of six French-designed Scorpene submarines as well as Mirage fighter planes also came up in the talks.

"There is a project for the supply of two or more submarines and it is for India to tell us how many they want but we are at a point where an agreement could be reached by the end of the year," she said.

According to Indian sources, the two-billion-euro (2.1-billion-dollar) project involves the construction of six Scorpene submarines and a partial transfer of technology.

The minister did not clarify whether France was willing to sell outright two Scorpenes or to allow their assembly in India through a limited transfer of technology.

According to analysts here, the diesel-propelled Scorpenes, each weighing about 1,600 tonnes when in water, could be built over 15 years at Mazagon Docks in western India.

If the deal is signed in 2003, the first Indian-built Scorpene will be ready in 2010 and the sixth in 2016. However India is pressing Paris to stop the sales of French weapons to Pakistan before clinching the Scorpene deal.

India accuses rival Pakistan of being an "epicentre of terrorism" and of supporting Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir.

New Delhi is also planning to buy around 130 fighter jets, and French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation is pursuing talks with India on selling a number of its Mirage 2000s/2000-5 warplanes.

Other rivals in the race are Lockheed Martin of the United States, which is offering its F-16 fighting Falcons, and Russia with its upgraded MiG-29 and Sukhoi-30MKI warplanes.

Alliot-Marie said France was willing to allow India to build Mirage jets under licence if it clinched a deal, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

"We mentioned the possibilities of aircraft and we have a proposal which is under study in India. We are offering technology transfer and local manufacture (of Mirage jets).

"But I did not come to sign deals but to develop partnerships and relations in India," she said.

"The armament partnership between India and France has existed for many years now and there are a number of prospects ... our relationship is not just commercial but is bound by a framework of trust as there are guarantees that our contracts will be honoured," she said, adding that France also offered glitch-free after-sales spares supply.

"The contracts are the starting point of transfer of technology and this is true partnership," the defence minister said.

Alliot-Marie arrived in India early Sunday and later in the day paid a visit to the famous Taj Mahal.

She was to return to Paris immediately after the press conference.

SPACE.WIRE