US assures India it will proceed with nuclear deal

WASHINGTON: The new Obama Administration on Wednesday assured India that it will proceed with the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal, signed during George W Bush's tenure, and said the two countries needed to ramp up cooperation in counter-terrorism and global issues such as climate change.

Senior State department officials gave the assurance to Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who is on a four-day official visit.

Menon on Monday met Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and discussed the nuclear deal, counter-terrorism cooperation, bilateral issues, Sri Lankan conflict and bringing the situation under control in war-torn Afghanistan.

During his talks with Under-Secretary for Political Affairs William rpt William Burns today, Menon discussed the landmark civil nuclear deal and other bilateral issues.

During his meeting with the Secretary of State, Clinton told Menon that the two countries needed to ramp up their cooperation in bilateral and global issues including climate change and counter-terrorism.

"The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, its current status and the way forward too was discussed during the meeting (between Menon and Clinton)," State Department Acting Spokesman Robert Wood told reporters.

"I think there was a bit of a discussion on the additional protocol that was just worked out with the IAEA," Wood said.