Islamabad - Pakistan is ready to join Indian efforts to halt piracy off Somalia, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Saturday.

Pakistan was a small country without a a big naval power, "but if I am asked to do a little bit, I can do that," Zardari said when asked via video-conferencing by a reporter at the Indian daily Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi about the cooperation.

India has called for greater cooperation among navies under the UN banner as its navel force increases patrols, together with NATO and Russia, to control piracy off the Horn of Africa nation.

The Indian Navy last week sank a pirate vessel off the Gulf of Aden in international waters south of Oman.

The pirates are currently holding Saudi Arabian supertanker carrying 100 million dollars-worth of crude oil, and are demanding 25 million-dollar ransom for the Sirius Star, which they seized around 830 kilometres south-east of the Kenyan port of Mombasa.

Another three ships were seized after the Sirius Star was taken. Some reports suggest around 17 vessels are in the hands of pirates along with over 300 crew.

Pakistan and India, two nuclear-armed neighbours, have fought three wars since they gained independence from England in 1947. But for the last four years they have improved relations through a peace dialogue initiated in 2004. dpa