Richard Boucher to visit India, N-deal likely to figure

NEW DELHI: US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher will undertake a two-day visit here from Tuesday during which the two sides are expected to review progress on implementation of the civil nuclear deal.
    
Boucher, in-charge of South Asia, will hold talks with his counterpart Gayatri Kumar, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, and is expected to meet Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, sources said on Sunday.
    
The civil nuclear agreement issue is likely to dominate the discussions and the Indian side is expected to provide an update on its talks with IAEA on the safeguards agreement.
    
After the fifth round of negotiations between India and IAEA that concluded in Vienna on Thursday last, the two sides have reported "considerable progress" and moved closer to the agreed text of the agreement.
    
Finalisation of the safeguards agreement with the IAEA is a key step towards operationalisation of the Indo-US nuclear deal. This has to be followed by the waiver by Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to allow India to have civil nuclear cooperation with the international community.
    
The US has been pressing for early conclusion of these steps so that the agreement comes before the Congress for final voting by May, failing which the prospects for completion of the deal appear to be slim.
    
During Boucher's visit, the two sides will also take stock of developments in Pakistan, Nepal and other countries in the region.
    
On Pakistan, India and the US will exchange notes on the latest situation in the backdrop of recent elections there.