Deal will be done, says Burns

A top bush administration official has expressed hope that the civilian nuclear deal with India will be done. 8220;The nuclear deal is done. We hope that will happen. I think Americans might be able to say 20 years from now, India is one of our two or three most important partners in the world,8221; Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said in an interview with PBS.

8220;That will be a tremendous strategic change for us from the relationship we8217;ve had with India since 1947, 60 years now, and a great benefit to us, and I think it will be to the Indians as well.8221; 8220;India is a global country. It8217;s a democracy. It tends to see the world the way we do. It has an interest in stability in South and East Asia the way we do,8221; he said.

Burns argued that the United States8217; evolving strategic relationship with India went beyond the fact that the country is growing economically. 8220;I think well beyond that. We live in a globalised world, where many of the problems confronting us do not lend themselves to the actions of even the most powerful state, the US. 8220;You need friends. You need allies. You need countries to help you build democracies overseas, to resolve conflicts like the one in Burma that we8217;re witnessing so dramatically this week, to overcome global climate change and international drug and criminal cartels,8221; Burns said.