The US will seek help from India in resolving at the earliest the issue of Bhutanese refugees, who have been staying in eastern Nepal camps, so that they could be resettled in a third country, a top American official said in Kathmandu.

The resettlement of the refugees to a third country is the first phase of the long-term solution to their problem, US Assistant Secretary Ellen Sauerbrey said in Kathmandu on Friday.

Out of 170,000 Bhutanese refugees residing in Nepal camps, the USA has offered to give shelter to over 60,000 refugees.

The US government will start the process of resettlement from the coming week, Sauerbrey said.

Admitting that India's role for the repatriation of the Bhutanese refugee would be crucial, she said the US government will ask both Bhutan and India to help resolve the refugee problem soon, state run Nepal Television said.

She also visited the Bhutanese refugees' camp in Beldangi in eastern Nepal during her brief stay in Nepal.

Bhutan's popular democratic leader Teknath Rijal recently said he would prefer repatriation of the refugees to Bhutan rather than a third country resettlement.

However, Nepal government has agreed to the offer made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for a third country resettlement of the refugees as an alternative solution to the problem.

Sauerbrey is also likely to call on Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and discuss matters relating to the refugee problem Nepal is facing for more than one and half decade.

After Nepal, Sauerbrey will travel to Bhutan and India, where she will seek assistance from the governments in promoting durable solutions, including voluntary repatriation for the exiled Bhutanese, officials said in Kathmandu.