Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, said he would discuss the separation plan with Indian officials during a trip to New Delhi this week.

"Part of the purpose of my trip to Delhi this week is to work with the Indian government on a plan that will separate civilian and military nuclear (programs and facilities) of India over the coming years," he told a forum of the New York-based Asia Society.

He said that the US Congress would be in a position to amend laws prohibiting US nuclear cooperation with India once New Delhi committed itself to the separation scheme.

"Once that plan has been clearly enunciated and once it has been committed to by the Indian government, I think it will be a very short time before the United States Congress makes the necessary legislative changes to bring this into being and that would be a very welcome moment indeed," Burns said.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President George W. Bush agreed on a deal last July in which Washington would give India access to civil nuclear energy related technology once India agreed to separate civilian and military nuclear programmes and place its nuclear reactors under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.

India is a nuclear-armed nation but not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The United States had placed sanctions on India after its second round of nuclear tests in May 1998, but agreed after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to waive those and other sanctions in return for support in the war on terrorism.

Under the July deal, the United States had agreed to lobby allies to adjust international regimes to enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India.

"I think by the time that President Bush visits New Delhi in early 2006 we will see that both of our countries would have met our commitment in this landmark agreement," Burn said as he gave a comprehensive account of US policy toward India in his speech to diplomats, analysts and government officials.

The US-India nuclear deal was part of a groundbreaking pact on a wide range of cooperative initiatives and the launching of a new strategic partnership by Bush and Singh.

Burns was instrumental in developing the partnership agreement, including civil nuclear energy cooperation, which he called "the high-water mark of bilateral relations in nearly 60 years.

India last month was accused by some groups of caving in to US pressure in supporting a IAEA resolution that opens the door to reporting Iran to the UN Security Council for violating international nuclear safeguards.

The vote came after US legislators warned that the nuclear cooperation deal could be jeopardized if India refused to back firm action against Iran, with which New Delhi has valuable energy ties.

Burns said the vote was "a very important sign that India is a responsible nuclear power, that India agrees that non proliferation norms have to be respected.

"Since the Indian government's very decisive and clear vote in the IAEA, that issue has disappeared in the US Congress and we now find substantial support in Congress for the agreement reached in July," he said.

The United States has accused Iran of hiding secret nuclear weapons work, allegations denied by Tehran which insists it has a right to pursue a peaceful civilian nuclear program.

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