January 19, 2006	Thursday	Zilhaj 18, 1426

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WASHINGTON, Jan 18: US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns arrives in Islamabad later this week after finalizing details of an Indo-US nuclear deal with officials in New Delhi.

In Pakistan, Mr Burns will urge the government to enhance its efforts for restoring democracy, says the US State Department. He will also visit Sri Lanka and discuss various proposals for halting ethnic violence in the island nation.

Mr Burns, who arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday, will begin formal consultations with senior Indian officials from Thursday. Officials in Washington said that Mr Burns’ talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran will focus on the Indo-US nuclear deal signed during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the White House in July.

US and Indian officials have been labouring for months on the implementation mechanism, especially India’s need to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities and place its reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, as stipulated in the deal.

India wants the July 18 deal to be implemented before US President George W Bush’s expected visit to New Delhi by early March.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington that Mr Burns and Mr Saran will hold a fourth meeting of the so-called Joint Working Group on Civil Nuclear Cooperation and “discuss how we go about implementing” the agreement,”

On his inaugural trip to Pakistan, Mr Burns is scheduled to meet senior Pakistani officials and opinion leaders. The State Department said that Mr Burns will hold wide-ranging talks with senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad.

His agenda includes talks on broadening US-Pakistan ties, Pakistan’s progress towards full democracy and ways for greater regional cooperation, a State Department official said.

Mr Burns will also assure Pakistan of continued US support for relief and reconstruction efforts following the devastating October earthquake that killed more than 73,000 people, the official said.

Although US officials have said they want to see the full restoration of democracy in Pakistan, they have so far avoided criticizing President Pervez Musharraf for refusing to give up his military role.

In Sri Lanka Mr Burns will discuss the status of the peace process with the new government of President Mahinda Rajapakse and Norwegian truce monitors.