Chilean President Ricardo Lagos said Friday his country was keen on strengthening ties with India in diverse areas including IT and biotechnology.

Speaking to reporters on his arrival at the airport in Bangalore in Karnataka state in south India, he hailed the achievements of Karnataka in the fields of IT and biotechnology and said Chile looked forward to developing and intensifying close ties with India including these areas, the Press Trust of India reported.

Asked about the proposal of India to sell Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv to Chile, he said his country was still considering it.

According to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), it has been interacting with Chile for possible cooperation in HAL's indigenously designed and developed Dhruv.

HAL had recently conducted a live demonstration of Dhruv in Chile.

Later, Lagos visited software major Infosys at the electronics city on Bangalore outskirts.

Source: Xinhua