US nuke negotiator puts off India visit

WASHINGTON—Amid uncertainties over the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement getting through in the ‘Lame Duck’ session of US Senate, Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns has postponed his trip to India that was to begin from November 11.
The development has only to do with difficulties in scheduling of the senior State Department official, who was instead travelling to East Asia this weekend as part of an US delegation to discuss the issue of six-party talks on North Korean nuclear programme, sources said.
They said Burns’ tour to South Asia per se has been put off and this included a visit to Pakistan for the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue that has just been put on track. Burns was also expected to visit Afghanistan.
Burns’ East Asia visit comes ahead of an official tour to Vietnam by US President George W Bush, who will also attend a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders under the aegis of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Hanoi on November 18 and 19.
Prior to the summit, APEC will have a series of Ministerials that will involve Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.—Online