NEW DELHI, Sept 10: India and the United States began a periodic review on Wednesday of the numerous trouble spots straddling South Asia, focusing on New Delhi’s evolving ties with Islamabad, the Maoist insurgency in Nepal and the troubled political equilibrium in Afghanistan, official sources said.

As visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Christina Rocca began a series of meetings with senior officials of the Indian foreign ministry, a US embassy spokesman summed these up as “the latest in the series of meetings between officials of the two countries to hold regular senior level consultations.”

Another US official said Ms Rocca would discuss the situation in Iraq, particularly Washington’s urgent quest to have Indian and Pakistani troops joining the military management of the war-torn country.

Indian newspapers said New Delhi was not likely to heed any such call until Washington armed the United Nations with an explicit and unfettered mandate to govern Iraq.

India’s reluctance has been reportedly rationalized by Washington and President George Bush was quoted on Tuesday as telling an Indian journalist that he understood New Delhi’s compulsions in not rushing troops to his aid.

“We could understand Prime Minister Vajpayee’s problem with it because of elections,” Mr Bush said.

Incidentally, the US president was also quoted as saying that he would keep a visit to India as top priority if he were re-elected. In other words, he is not likely to come to this region in the foreseeable future.

Ms Rocca was to address a meeting of Indian business captains where she would spell out her agenda, officials said. However, among the more serious developments engaging her talks with Indian officials is the threat of strikes in Nepal.