The United States on Wednesday said India?s decision on the $11-bn Medium Multi-role Combat aircraft (MMRCA) deal would be the next logical step in taking the bilateral relationship forward, though New Delhi had categorically stated that its acquisition of the fighter aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) would be an apolitical decision.

US ambassador Timothy J Roemer, addressing a conference on America and Asia, organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University here, said the decision of New Delhi was the next logical step in taking forward the India-US relationship.

?Hopefully when India evaluates the six competitors for MMRCA, it decides one of the two American platforms… F-16s Super Viper (Lockheed Martin) and F/A-18 (Boeing) Super Hornet.

?This becomes the very logical next step in the relationship. This will be a very important indicator of where this relationship goes in the 21st century,? he said.

At the Aero India 2011 last month, responding to a question if the MMRCA deal would be influenced by the increasing role played by the US in supporting India, defence minister AK Antony said, ?Some more formalities are needed. We are progressing well. I am not an astrologer to say who will win the deal. But our policy is not country-centric. Further, there will be no political decision or interference over any defence acquisition, including the MMRCA.?

Apart from the US fighter aircraft, Russian MiG-35 (United Aircraft Corp), French Rafale (Dassault), European consortium EADS? Eurofighter Typhoon and Swedish Gripen (Saab) are in the race for the IAF deal.

Asked if bilateral relations would be hit if American companies were not picked, Roemer reminded of the promises US President Barack Obama made in November 2010 — on a reformed UN Security Council.

Ahead of the down selection of the the companies in the MMRCA race in the next couple of months, Roemer said that, ?We look at the finalisation of the civil nuclear agreement and the issuing of the A-10 licenses and India signing the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC)?.

?I am an optimist… an optimist about US-India strategic partnership. I am an optimist about what President Obama announced when he was here… the UN membership for India, (DRDO and ISRO) coming off the Entity List, historical cooperation with India in regional and multilateral fora.

?Across the board, America is elevating, raising India to a global partner,? he said.

?MMRCA seems to be a logical next step in building strategic partnership on the defence side. But the people of India will decide that, the government will decide that.

?We hope (India will) look at US reliability as a strong strategic partner. We hope India will look at the technology… some of the best radars, avionics and targeting equipment in the world… some of the sophisticated technology anywhere,? he said.

Referring to the delivery of Lockheed Martin?s C-130J in February, the ambassador expressed the hope that the ?on-time, on-budget? delivery of the transport aircraft for Indian Special Forces will be kept in mind when the MMRCA deal was finalised.

?We just delivered C-130J which were actually not only on time, but under budget.. slightly under budget. In the defence world today, that?s a very important factor for tight budgets,? he added.