The statement pledged American support for the ambitious plans for an unmanned lunar mission by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

"President Bush and Prime Minister Singh welcomed the inclusion of two US instruments in the Indian lunar mission Chandrayaan-1" (Moon Vehicle), it said, referring to the Indian orbiter which is under development.

"They noted that a memoranda of understanding to be signed by ISRO and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) would be significant steps forward in this area," said the statement at the end of landmark talks in New Delhi.

ISRO has said its maiden lunar programme is on schedule and could be launched as early as 2007 and followed by a manned mission within seven years.

The 590-kilogram (1,298-pound) orbiter is to map the lunar terrain for minerals, conduct experiments and land a probe weighing about 20 kilograms on the surface for closer scientific examination.

A ground station is also being built near the southern city of Bangalore where ISRO is headquartered, to track an indigenously-built polar satellite launch vehicle which will carry the orbiter.

The mission is budgeted to cost the state-run agency 83 million dollars.

India sent its first astronaut, Rakesh Sharma, aboard Soviet spacecraft Salyut 7 in April 1984. Another astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, was killed along with six others in the Columbia shuttle disaster in February 2003.

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