India has once again ruled out signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, at least for now.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India is a responsible nuclear power and the time may not be right for New Delhi to sign the NPT.

I don't know whether the circumstances are ripe right now for us to sign that (NPT). But we are voluntarily fulfilling all the commitments that go with being a responsible nuclear power acting with due restraint, Singh said at a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the Indian capital.

We are a nuclear power. We are a responsible nuclear power, Singh said, adding, We have an impeccable record in export control, and we would like to work with like-minded countries on non-proliferation issues.

The premier said that India acted with self-restraint, and it was committed to no-first use. India in any case fulfilled the commitments of a responsible nuclear power, Singh said.

Earlier this week, Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee also said that India had a credible nuclear deterrence in place.

Whatever is needed to safeguard the country and to ensure effective deterrence, in line with our nuclear doctrine of 'no first use,' has been done, Mukherjee said.

Germany was one of the several nations across the world that was shocked by India's nuclear tests in 1998 that invited a series of economic sanctions against New Delhi.

While the United States lifted most of its sanctions when India sided with its war against terror in Afghanistan in 2001, other nations have been gradually removing trade embargoes on New Delhi.

With India emerging as an economic giant and one of world's largest market, many nations want to benefit the economic scenario by entering into bilateral trade with world's second-most populous nation.

Schroeder's two-day visit is also aimed at bolstering trade ties between India and Germany.

The chancellor sounded confident that last year's $6.16 billion record bilateral trade figures could be surpassed, saying the German industry is impatient to invest in India, and trade between the two countries could be doubled within five years.

We have to convince our entrepreneurs that it will be beneficial to invest in India, the world's largest democracy and a market of 1 billion people, the chancellor said.

I am sure the courageous reforms Prime Minister Manmohan Singh initiated a decade ago will attract more foreign direct investments, which is in our interest, Schroeder said.

Singh, who became prime minister in May, is regarded as the father of economic reforms that he launched in 1991 as finance minister.

New Delhi reciprocated Schroeder's gesture. India attaches special importance to its relations with Germany and is eager to expand and intensify bilateral relations to a level befitting the strategic relations between the two countries, a foreign ministry statement said.

Prime Minister Singh said his government would remove all hurdles to attract more foreign investments, including that from Germany.

In the months and years to come, we will work together with all like-minded countries to remove all the obstacles that come in the way of increased German investment and technology flows and in promoting a harmonious trading relationship, Singh said.

Both India and Germany support each other in their common objective of finding a permanent berth in the U.N. Security Council.

We are both champions of a multilateral approach in international politics and would work for a further strengthening of the United Nations, the visiting chancellor said.

We have promised each other that we will support each other for a possible candidacy on the Security Council, Deutsche Welle Radio quoted Schroeder as saying.

The current members of the Security Council's five permanent veto-wielding members are France, England, United States, China and Russia.

The chancellor will also visit Vietnam, Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of his Asia tour.