Ronen Sen meets Nicholas Burns

The US has said that the nuclear energy cooperation with India remained a "very important goal" for it as Indian Ambassador Ronen Sen met Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns.

The meeting was held to apparently convey India's displeasure over Ambassador David Mulford's remarks on the future of Indo-US nuclear deal.

Although specific details of the discussions held on Friday were not available, Sen is understood to have told him about the implications Mulford's remarks would have on the process aimed at increasing understanding on the issues involved in implementing the deal.

"What we are focussed on is moving ahead on the civilian-nuclear agreement and that is what we are continuing to have discussions with Indian officials with," a senior administration official informed in Washington.

"Coming to an agreement on this issue remains a very important goal for us," the official said, also making the point that Mulford's remarks "were a part of the process to increase understanding of the issues involved".

On the top American envoy's comments, the senior official stressed once again that it is Mulford's "personal analysis of the political situation involving Congress on this particular issue" and that the Ambassador had said in the interview that India will make its choice based on its national interests.

India had summoned Mulford on Friday and conveyed its strong displeasure, saying the remarks were "inappropriate" and "not conducive to building a strong partnership" between the two countries.