The US has despatched here a senior official to explain the intricacies of its system for selling defence hardware and technology as part of its efforts to drum up orders from India.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gregory Suchan, who heads the US Directorate of Defence Trade Controls, spent Monday and Tuesday meeting officials of the external affairs and defence ministries to clear the air on America's complex system of licensing for military sales.

"The basic purpose of my meetings was to demystify the process of how we regulate defence trade," Suchan told reporters here after his meetings with Indian officials.

He said he had briefed the Indian side on the registration of defence sales, licensing for defence exports and procedures for compliance by armaments companies with terms laid down by the US government.

Suchan's visit is a precursor to a trip to India next week by US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control Steve Rademaker.

The US has authorised the sale to India of hardware and technology worth $1 billion since January 2002, and has its eyes on a greater share of the multibillion-dollar Indian arms market that is currently dominated by Russia, Israel and Britain.

Suchan said he had answered queries raised by Indian officials and offered clarifications on issues that had arisen in the past over US defence equipment.

The Indian establishment, including Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, has raised questions about the US' reliability as a defence supplier in light of sanctions imposed in the past.

But Suchan pointed out that the US currently supplied military hardware worth about $60 billion a year to over 100 nations and suggested this itself was an indicator of its reliability.

While noting that the US intended its defence sales to advance its foreign policy, Suchan said his government had a "totally hands off" policy on offsets in armaments contracts finalised by American companies.

According to a new policy unveiled by the Indian government last week, it will be mandatory for all foreign armaments companies winning contracts of over Rs.3 billion to invest 30 percent of the total cost in the country as offsets.

"We don't regulate offsets. In general, the US policy is hands off. But the US Congress hates offsets, no one likes it," he noted.