Indian foreign ministry officials said the talks were part of ongoing contacts between members of a joint working group set up by India and the Jewish State in 2000 to strengthen cooperation in their fight against terrorism.

"Both sides reaffirmed their unequivocal condemnation of all acts of terrorism," an Indian government statement said following the talks in New Delhi.

"They reviewed the global campaign against terrorism and discussed ways and means by which the fight against terrorism by the international community can be made more effective and how India and Israel can contribute to this," it added.

Indian officials, however, said the two sides for the first time held talks on issues of nuclear disarmament.

"On talks on disarmament, India and Israel exchanged views on current issues on the global agenda and decided to continue the dialogue in the future," the Indian statement said.

India, which conducted a string of nuclear tests in May 1998, says it will only sign pacts like the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty if permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- agree to a time-frame for disarmament and ban simulated atomic explosions.

Israel has remained silent on its nuclear weapons capability, but is widely believed to have a nuclear weapons arsenal.

The Indian statement said the two sides agreed to meet early next year to "expand inter-sessional exchanges in specific professional areas".

Despite New Delhi's deep reservations on Israel's military actions in the Gaza strip, New Delhi and the Israel have forged close military bonds over the past six years.

Israel has offered its latest counter-terrorism hardware including unmanned aerial vehicles, night-vision devices, and sensors to monitor cross-border infiltration in Kashmir, as well as communication equipment and the Phalcon airborne early warning system, an advanced radar system.

India, on its part, has allowed Israeli personnel access to some of its classified sites for training in anti-terror measures, sources say.

As leader of the non-aligned movement during the Cold War, India shunned Israel. But in 1992, New Delhi established diplomatic ties amid hopes of Middle East peace.

The ties warmed dramatically after then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Hindu nationalists took office in 1998.

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