N-deal, ties with Pak to top Indo-US talks

Boucher will discuss how the two countries plan to strengthen strategic ties and move forward with the N-deal.

US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher will be meeting Indian officials on Monday to discuss how the two countries plan to strengthen strategic ties and move forward with the nuclear deal, news reports said.

The talks are also likely to focus on relations between India and Pakistan, which have remained strained recently by a series of deadly train bombings in Bombay.

India suspects terrorist groups based out of Pakistan were behind the bombings of July 11, which killed 207 people. Boucher, who arrived in Kolkata on Sunday, told reporters the United States would implement the civilian nuclear agreement in its 'true spirit', the report said.

He said he was confident the Senate would clear the deal, that would allow US agencies and companies to sell nuclear fuel and technologies to India. Last month, the US House of Representatives approved the plan.

Besides meeting Indian officials in New Delhi, Boucher on Monday is also scheduled to address a meeting of business leaders.

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