Arun Kumar

Washington, April 30 President Barack Obama 's pick for a key Pentagon policy post has indicated that he favours bolstering the relationship the previous Bush administration fashioned with India, "a critical strategic partner of the United States."

"I believe there is potential for greater intelligence sharing on common threats, cooperation on missile defence, and working towards stability in Afghanistan," Wallace Gregson, the nominee to become assistant secretary of defence for Asian and Pacific security affairs, said in a testimony to the US Senate on Monday.

He suggested US priorities for the relationship with India "should be focused on increasing maritime security cooperation, cooperating on counter-proliferation, collaborating on humanitarian assistance and disaster response, dealing with piracy, finding ways to cooperate on counter-terrorism, and deepening defence trade."

Gregson also told senators that he favours imposing detailed benchmarks on Pakistani officials for combating extremist Islamic groups operating there and tying any further military aid to Pakistan to these benchmarks.

Gregson appeared before the panel to testify about his confirmation to become assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific security affairs.