The civil nuclear deal, touted as the ''symbolic centerpiece'' of bilateral relationship by the Bush administration will be the focus of talks External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee will have during his visit to the US next month. ''We are looking forward to his (Mukherjee's) visit next month,'' Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said.
The dates are yet to be fixed, the top official who is the US points man for the nuclear deal, said after a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. ''Secretary of State (Condoleezza) Rice is looking forward to welcoming Foreign Minister Mukherjee to the United States and obviously we want to focus on the major issues in our relationship, our regional cooperation in South Asia, Afghanistan, our civilian nuclear accord, energy cooperation, our space cooperation and our relationship across the board,'' Burns said.
Pressing India to move ahead on civilian nuclear cooperation, Burns, who will step down in March but will continue as special envoy for the nuclear deal said, ''this will be the symbolic centerpiece of the relationship. It also ends India's 35 years of isolation in the civilian nuclear field and to be treated fairly and equitably by the international community.'' In his formal remarks at the Council meeting, Burns argued that the ''United States could not and should not go alone in the world'' and that the strategic focus of Washington has changed with more attention to Middle East and South Asia. ''We have to play in all fields, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia,'' he said. I hope that something useful comes out of this visit and also improves the Indo-US relationship. This news is from NDTV 24x7 through my DirecTV connection.
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