Before going in for talks, Burns told media persons that the two countries had come a long way in the talks on the agreement since the negotiations began two years ago.
The two sides will seek to wind up the year-long negotiations ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W Bush in Germany next week on the sidelines of the G-8 Summit.
President George W Bush said he is "pleased" with outgoing Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns for agreeing to continue to handle the "historic" Indo-US civil nuclear deal in which Washington has been making "progress" under him.
Significantly, the meeting between Menon and Burns on Tuesday will take place 10 days after senior officials from the two sides met in the South African city of Cape Town.
Menon will undertake a two-day visit from April 30 during which he will hold talks with US Under Secretary Nicholas Burns on the 123 agreement amid indications that Washington was 'frustrated' at the speed of the negotiations.
The two leaders are understood to have reviewed bilateral ties.
India and the United States can work together not to fight an 'authoritarian' China but to make it observe the rule of law, former US diplomat and Harvard professor Nicholas Burns said on Friday in a conversation with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
At the White House, Press Secretary Dana Perino was asked if US President George W Bush is in touch with anybody in India or has been briefed on the issue. "Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Burns has certainly been trying to push India to try to reconcile their differences so that we can move forward. We think it's a very important programme," Perino said.
Burns and other senior administration officials had hoped that the negotiations over the 123 Agreement last month in New Delhi would resolve any pending issues so it could be sent up to Congress for review.
Burns was speaking at a White House Diwali function.
Burns said from an American perspective, 'India and America have a common interest to thwart terrorism in our own regions and globally.'
When a media person asked why despite the affinity the United States had such a hard time endorsing India's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, Burns went into a spin.
On his first visit to Washington after taking over as foreign secretary, Menon on Wednesday had a three-hour-long discussion with Burns, who is the key negotiator for the nuclear deal.
Seeking to dispel their apprehensions, Saran is expected to highlight New Delhi's impeccable record on non-proliferation front.
Rejecting some critics' argument as to what message the US was sending to Iran by signing a nuclear energy deal with India, Burns said, "We don't see the connection between what Iran is doing and what India seeks to do."
Indian team led by foreign secretary will be back at the US State Department for negotiations early Friday and expect to be involved in some pretty intensive discussions, sources said.
Keen to conclude the civil nuclear deal by the year-end, India and the US will hold another round of high level talks in July to sort out differences that have been nagging the negotiations for months.
Burns said that "We obviously wish to see no more terrorism emanating from Kashmiri separatist groups. We have told the Pakistani government that we would hope that it uses influence with these terrorist groups to stop attacks.
Both need to tackle Kashmiri militants together, Nicholas Burns said.
The surprise retirement of Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who played a seminal role in finalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will take "some of the focus away" from the accord but his continuation as special envoy will help in its early conclusion, experts said.
Burns also hinted that he might travel to India this week and seal the deal.
A first look of the Foreign Secretary's meeting with Rice.
There is still time to take a decision, a top US diplomat said.
Saran and Burns will have deliberations on conceptual issues that have an impact and bearing on the negotiations on the agreement.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who will be in Washington from March 28 to March 31, will hold bilateral discussions with his US counterpart, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.
Visiting Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns brushed aside criticism that the US was trying to dictate to India on the Iran nuclear issue.
The US has said India should look toward Central Asian nations.
The mediators also praised India's role in the developments in the island nation.
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