NEW DELHI, 17 September 2005 — India and the United States will pursue work together on their nuclear cooperation deal, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said yesterday after New Delhi clarified it does not wish Iran to have nuclear weapons.

Burns, in an interview on Indian news channel NDTV, said he would visit India next month to push cooperation between the two countries.

“I’ll be traveling to India in a month or so’s time to work with my colleague, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, and our ambassador, David Mulford, will work with us as well,” Burns said.

He emphasized the US commitment to the deal in the wake of criticism of India in the US Congress for its growing energy and other economic ties with Iran, which has been accused of secretly trying to build nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian energy program.

Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh had angered US legislators over what they saw as anti-US remarks when he held talks in Tehran with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last week.

Questioning India’s motives, some US legislators warned that if New Delhi did not support any bid by Washington to refer Iran to the Security Council, the administration should freeze its landmark agreement to expand nuclear cooperation with India.

But Burns, who last visited India in June of this year, said he was reassured by what he had heard in New York this week.

“We’ve been told by the Indian government that in fact the position of the government is that it does not wish Iran to have a nuclear weapon, it does wish Iran to return to negotiations,” said Burns on NDTV.

“These are positive comments and as long as we can be working together on this issue then I can think we can convince the Congress of the United States that we ought to go forward with the civil nuclear cooperation deal.”

The nuclear pact, which can only be implemented after Congress amends certain US laws, is part of a bold strategic partnership announced by President George W. Bush after talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July.

The US and European powers have warned they will push for Iran’s nuclear case to be sent to the Security Council — which could impose sanctions — if Tehran does not halt all nuclear fuel work and resumes negotiations with the European Union.

Bush expressed concern over Iran’s nuclear program in talks with Manmohan and Chinese President Hu Jintao this week.