WASHINGTON, July 21: The United States has assured Pakistan that its agreement on nuclear cooperation with New Delhi will not affect the ‘unique relationship’ it has with Islamabad. US Under Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told a special briefing that his country had “an important and vital relationship with Pakistan,” which was separate from its relations with India.

On Tuesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had telephoned President Pervez Musharraf to assure him that the Indo-US nuclear deal signed earlier this week was not aimed at Pakistan.

Mr Burns said that Ms Rice reaffirmed “the central importance of Pakistan to the US, as a strategic partner for us in the war on terrorism”.

He said the US was ‘very pleased’ by the level of cooperation it had received from Pakistan in Afghanistan and in the war on terrorism in general.

He said the Bush administration had been in touch with the Pakistani government “at a variety of other levels” on the issue of the agreement.

“But it’s very important, I think, to say again, that we have this unique relationship with Pakistan, which is vital to our country and the war on terrorism,” he said.

Mr Burns said the US had “another unique and vital relationship with India. And as Secretary Rice has said many times before, there’s no reason for us to have a hyphenated … a strategic framework for South Asia.”

“Both countries are important and there are issues where US policy intersects and there are issues where we can have individual relationships with both countries. And certainly in the case of civil nuclear cooperation, we’re going to have individual relationships,” he said.

Explaining why the US signed the deal, Mr Burns said: “India has a record of non-proliferation, which is exceptional; very strong commitment to protection of fissile material, other nuclear materials and nuclear technology; and there’s a transparency about the Indian government’s program, which has been very welcome”. He said India had safeguarded reactors in Tarapur, built long ago by American firms, and other places.

Mr Burns said that in the agreement, India had committed in public to a series of actions to which it had not previously committed itself. “Actions, which will, in effect, in a de facto sense, have India agreeing to the same measures that most of the Non-Proliferation Treaty states have agreed to.”

He said India had agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities and place all the civil nuclear facilities under full safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. “That includes monitoring and inspections,” he said. He said India had also agreed to join the US and other nuclear powers in supporting a fissile material cut-off treaty.

In reply to a question, he said: “It’s the wish of the US that all countries would join the NPT (but) India has not made that decision to do that.”

He said this placed the US in a situation where it had to deal with “a partner of ours, a friendly country, a very large country with significant energy needs (which) is willing now to commit itself to undertake all of the quite invasive measures to safeguard its facilities. That is a benefit not just for the US, it’s a benefit for the non-proliferation community, and it’s a benefit for what all of us believe and that is that these fissile materials, nuclear technologies and other sensitive technologies have to be safeguarded. And that will now be ensured.”

He said that before the agreement was put into effect, the Indian government had to implement a series of measures that it had committed to. “And then we will have to seek these changes from Congress and we’ll also have to have conversations with our allies and partners in the nuclear suppliers group.”

Mr Burns said the US had begun consultations with the German, French and British governments on the issue and it would soon contact the Japanese government “to seek the support of those countries for it”.