NEW DELHI - INDIA is set to review its long-standing laws barring gay sex, in a move that could decriminalise homosexuality in the largely conservative country, a report said on Sunday.

Consensual sex between same-sex adults is currently punishable by a fine and a 10-year prison term under the Indian Penal Code, and most politicians have so far resisted amending the statute which dates back to British rule.

Now three key ministers have agreed to meet shortly to discuss a possible revamp of the country's homosexuality laws.

'The issue was being discussed in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Health Ministry and it will come before the Law Ministry also,' Law Minister Veerappa Moily was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times.

Critics say the laws are outdated and have been an obstacle to controlling the spread of HIV/Aids, which affects an estimated 2.5 million people in India.

The country's previous health minister had argued that allowing homosexual sex between consenting adults would bring India's largely closeted gay community into the open and increase awareness about safe sex.

But he faced opposition from other ministers who feared that decriminalising gay sex would lead to delinquent behaviour and alter the laws applying to child abuse and male rape, which are generally covered by the same statute that makes homosexuality illegal.

The news comes as gays, lesbians and transgendered Indians participated in nationwide pride marches for the second year in a row, despite taboos which mostly ignore or deny homosexuality or treat it as a disease. -- AFP