The Pentagon said Gates will meet with Singh, and the country's external affairs and defence chiefs. The Indian and US militaries had little interaction in the Cold War years, when India was neutral and had close relations with the Soviet Union, but now conduct joint military exercises and regular exchanges, and India is a big client for US arms dealers.
Although India bought some $3.5 billion in US weaponry in 2008, weapons sales were not to be the focus of the trip, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said.
The United States has been trying to pry India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, away from a preoccupation with one another that ties up each nation's militaries and defence budgets. India, an emerging economic power, could also be a more important regional security power in the US view, while Pakistan could be a stronger bulwark against Muslim extremism. Gates was last in India in 2008, when he held the same post as defence chief for the George W. Bush administration.