Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Senator Mike DeWine, right, as Sen. Norm Coleman, second from left, looks on in New Delhi on Jan. 10. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi : The United States will not be party to an arms race in the Indian subcontinent and has taken no decision on supplying F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), U.S. senate Majority leader, said here on Jan. 10.

Senator Frist, who led a four-member delegation to review the progress in ties with India, told reporters that Washington was “not intending to conduct arms sales that will in any way create imbalances in India-Pakistan relations.”

“No decision has been made regarding the sale of F-16s to Pakistan,” he said, reiterating statements issued by the U.S. administration in this regard.

Sen. Frist and other members of the delegation, who included Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN; and Sen. Mike DeWine, (R-OH), who were on the second leg of a four-nation tour –– the other three countries being Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan –– called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and met External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh and Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

Noting that the Kashmir issue figured prominently during discussions with Manmohan Singh, Frist said the U.S. understood that Kashmir was a bilateral issue between New Delhi and Islamabad. But, having said that, he hoped the two countries would sustain the peace talks initiated in January last year.

Frist, also a member of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, better known as the India Caucus, said the delegation was pleased with New Delhi’s commitment to dialogue with Islamabad and to efforts to cultivate peace in the region.

To a question, he said the U.S. strongly supported Pakistan’s transition to a fully sustainable democracy and said his country’s relations with Islamabad were independent of its ties with New Delhi.

Asked about America’s non-committal stance on the issue of India’s inclusion in the U.N. Security Council as a permanent member, he said neither the U.S. government nor the India Caucus has taken a position specifically for India.

“I am sure that would be considered in the coming months, though at this juncture no decision has been taken,” he said.

Sen. Frist lauded the important role played by India in relief efforts in neighboring countries hit by the Dec. 26 tidal waves, despite itself being a victim of the disaster.