Officials from the ministry of external affairs, however, told journalists that New Delhi had conveyed it concerns to the visiting US team over the continued denial of sensitive dual-use technologies which have civilian applications, even though India had promised to abide by end-user assurances.

Interestingly, a US embassy release on the official talks, which took place nine days before the PM's aide Jaswant Singh and US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott will meet in Rome, congratulated India's efforts in this direction. ``The US appreciates India's commitment to non-proliferation, reflected in its effective system of export controls and applauds India's support for enhancing its export control system,'' it said.

The US, the release added, is``pleased to accept (India's) invitation to join it in a discussion of how both countries might enhance their respective export control systems.''

The statement even remembered Vajpayee's statement at the UN in September that India has an effective system of export controls and ``shall make it more stringent where necessary.''

American sources, adding to the newly public convivial atmosphere, said, ``Both countries pretty much agree that sensitive technologies should be controlled. India has a good record in this sphere.''

Today's talks were led on the Indian side by the joint secretary (Americas division) Alok Prasad in the ministry of external affairs, while the US team was led by John Barker, deputy assistant secretary of state for export controls.

The Indian side pointed out the 1984 memorandum of understanding on the promotion of high technology exchanges, which had since increasingly fallen into disuse, could be ``revitalised'' as a vehicle to normalise commerce in these areas.

``The objectiveof the current strategic dialogue is the normalisation of the relationship. Which means that normal commerce in the civilian application of high-technologies should take place,'' officials said.

For example, when buying the US supercomputer Cray XMP in the Eighties, new Delhi had assuaged US fears that computer applications would be restricted to meteorological information.

Today, Washington was restricting the transfer of technologies, especially in areas such as nuclear and space research, chemical and biological weapons, etc., because it feared that these would also be used in the military application of these technologies.

The officials sought to differentiate the scope of today's talks from the US Entity List likely to be issued as a consequence of India's nuclear tests as early as next week. This List, they said, would name additional Indian entities that US departments would be proscribed from conducting a relationship with.

Today's talks, on the other hand, dealt with Washington's refusal totransfer even those technologies which have civilian applications even before India went nuclear.