New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark sidestepped differences with India over nuclear disarmament on Wednesday and sought to boost business ties between the two countries during a visit to New Delhi.

Clark, the first New Zealand prime minister to visit India in nearly two decades, said the two former British colonies had many things in common to build on -- the widespread use of English, common parliamentary and legal systems and a love of cricket -- despite disagreeing on New Delhi's nuclear programme.

"While New Zealand and India see eye to eye on most issues, there are inevitably some points of difference," Clark told business leaders. "New Zealand is one of the world's leading advocates for nuclear disarmament and for nuclear non-proliferation.

"We have always urged nationals to become parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)," she said.

However, Clark stepped around the question when reporters, at an earlier ceremonial welcome for her, asked her if she would urge India to sign the NPT and the CTBT.

"Of course, with every country there will be some issues we don't see 100 percent eye-to-eye. But we're going to focus on the positives," she said.

Clark, whose four-day visit took her to India's technology and financial hubs of Bangalore and Bombay, bemoaned the paltry trade between the two countries -- estimated at about $250 million last year -- despite India's vast size.

She said she was keen to push trade, tourism and encourage more Indian students to study in New Zealand.

New Zealand was among a host of countries that strongly condemned India for its nuclear tests in 1998 and days before her visit, Clark had triggered concern in the Indian foreign ministry by reaffirming Wellington's concerns over the issue.

India says its nuclear weapons are for deterrence and has a no-first-use policy. However, it has refused to sign the CTBT and the NPT, saying they are discriminatory and seek to protect the interests of select Western powers.

Clark had also told an Indian newspaper in an interview ahead of her visit that the Kashmir dispute -- at the heart of half a century of enmity with nuclear neighbor Pakistan -- is a nuclear flashpoint, a position India rejects.

(China Daily via agencies October 21, 2004)