White House Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto was asked in his briefing as to where the two sides stand on the accord, given that Washington's pointsman for the deal, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, is scheduled to depart the State Department by the end of March. "We'll continue our cooperation in order to achieve that goal of getting the agreement completed," Fratto said.
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.
A first look of the Foreign Secretary's meeting with Rice.
Saran and Burns will have deliberations on conceptual issues that have an impact and bearing on the negotiations on the agreement.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and\nhis reaction was "constructive" and "not overly problematic."
The two countries are aiming at sorting out differences particularly on issues like reprocessing right, perpetuity of fuel supplies and continuance of the civilian nuclear cooperation if India were to conduct an atomic test.
The senior State Department official stressed not only the kind of distances that have been traversed in the last several months -- over and beyond the civilian nuclear initiative -- but also in looking at what is in store down the road.
The United States has dismissed reports of propping up India as a counterweight to China by agreeing to scrap the 30-year-old ban on nuclear exports to New Delhi.
Meetings with nuclear scientists likely.
'Pakistan,' says former US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs R Nicholas Burns, 'has an obligation to work with India and to give India the type of support needed to ensure that these types of attacks will not occur again. Therefore you cannot hide behind the definition of non-state actors. Every government has a responsibility to control the situation on its own territory. India needs the kind of reassurances from Islamabad that has not yet been forthcoming.'
'This nuclear agreement is a sign for the rest of the world of the great American respect for India,' says US Under Secretary of State R Nicholas Burns.
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.
'If they are implying that they are going to have Congressional action by the time Bush goes to India, I believe the administration is setting out a very tough task for itself,' feels South Asia expert Robert M Hathaway.
Burns, the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs who played a key role in clinching the deal, will address a talk on "India and Pakistan: On the Heels of President Bush's Visit" on Monday.
No dilution of language in the House and Senate bills is likely during the House-Senate conference that will meet on the United States-India civilian nuclear agreement when Congress reconvenes this week.
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.
Bolton, who is the chief US envoy to the United Nations, said involving the Security Council will not displace the IAEA, but will "strengthen the hand" of the agency in dealing with Iran.
Trump offered to be the "mediator" between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue as he met Prime Minister Imran Khan at the White House.
A former top American diplomat, considered to be the architect of the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal, on Friday urged US President Barack Obama to reach out to India's prime minister-designate Narendra Modi for an early meeting.
Garcetti, 50, who served as the co-chair of Biden's presidential campaign, was initially considered for the Cabinet.
China has been an aggressor against India along the Himalayan border, a top American diplomat nominated by President Joe Biden as his next envoy to Beijing has told lawmakers, stating that the US must hold the Chinese government accountable for failing to play by the rules.
United States President Donald Trump remarks on Monday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought his mediation on the Kashmir issue will "damage" the Indo-US relations, ex-diplomats said.
'If we could break through this symbolic barrier of sanctions and a dysfunctional relationship, we could do anything.'
China urged the US to immediately address its wrongdoings, take practical measures to undo the adverse effects caused by Pelosi's visit.
China on Wednesday said it will take "strong and effective" countermeasures against the US and Taiwan for violating the "One-China policy", as the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi successfully completed her visit to Taipei disregarding Beijing's vociferous threats.
One Chinese source informed ANI that 10 million new infections are probably occurring daily in China.
Thousands of farmers are protesting on various borders of Delhi since November 26, seeking repeal of three farm laws enacted in September.
'I would urge my Indian friends to look at how significant the overall support was.'
'We had to convince our people that we were doing nothing that would erode our strategic programme. We were all the time arguing that we are not doing anything, which will remotely impact on our strategic programme.'
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