Associated Press

New Delhi, Jun 5: US Marine General Peter Pace, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday and is set to meet India's Defence Minister and military leaders on his four-day India visit, a US Embassy statement said.

Asia's security and growing US-India military ties topped the agenda as America's top general began talks on Monday with Indian defence officials and military leaders.

After decades of Cold War mistrust, India and the US, the world's two largest democracies, are building a strategic partnership.

Their relationship "has grown from an uneasy coexistence during the Cold War to a true partnership, based on our common values and common interests today," US Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld said on Sunday at an Asian Security Summit in Singapore, according to the Embassy statement.

The new relationship's cornerstone is a civilian nuclear pact between New Delhi and Washington. The deal is awaiting approval by the US Congress.

The pact would open new arenas for US-India military cooperation, including the sale of high-tech US weapons like fighter jets and rocket launchers to India.