The United States may lift restrictions imposed on exports of high-technology items to India, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said in London on Wednesday.

"We have made considerable progress in talks with the US Administration to lift restrictions on high-technology exports to India," the external affairs minister, who was returning from a trip to New York, told the Financial Times in an interview.

In spite of warming of ties with the US over the last four years, New Delhi continues to resent the strict US export controls on 'dual use' technology (products that could be converted for military use) to India.

"'Dual use' can get so ridiculous, meaning things such as nuts and bolts," Sinha said. "If these restrictions are maintained, it is preventing the US taking advantage of our high-technology market," he said.

The restrictions have hindered the growth of India's civilian nuclear and space programmes and its booming domestic information technology sector, the daily noted.

India will sign an agreement next week with the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leading to the creation of a full free trade area within a decade, he said.

The framework agreement had been negotiated over the past year, and would be signed next week at the ASEAN summit in Bali, Indonesia. India is also close to signing bilateral trade deals with both Singapore and Thailand, he said.

"We are getting much more deeply engaged in south-east Asia. This will certainly boost our trade and economic relationship with the region," Sinha said.

According to the report progress on negotiating the framework agreement with ASEAN has been unusually rapid by Indian standards, in a sign of the importance of the deal to both sides.

India has watched with some misgivings neighbouring China's dramatic trade growth with ASEAN over the past decade, the newspaper observed.

Quoting Indian officials, the report said ASEAN also wants to counter-balance China's growing economic dominance of the region by strengthening ties with a market the size of India.

Indian exports to ASEAN were $4.8 billion last year, just 8 per cent of its total exports. It could rise sharply, the report quoting officials said.

Sinha said: "If we have regional trading arrangements with ASEAN, they will become beneficiaries of lower tariffs with India."