Washington: The United States hopes that India and Pakistan will maintain the progress achieved in their relationship despite strains after the Mumbai blasts. .

Terming the Mumbai blasts as a "horrible tragedy" with those responsible being "obviously well prepared" with the "evil intent", the Bush administration said under the present circumstances the focus must be on the "evidence" of who or what groups may have been behind the blasts.

"We certainly hope that the progress in India-Pakistan relations is not lost, and that they find opportunities to cooperate, to cooperate against terrorist groups, to cooperate in stabilising the region. And that's something we'll continue to encourage. It is up to them to decide how to proceed," Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher told reporters. "We realise that they felt it was not possible to have the Foreign Secretaries meeting this week. But I think our outlook remains that India-Pakistan cooperation is important for the region and we hope they will find ways to continue it in the future."

Nuclear deal

Mr. Boucher said the historic civilian nuclear deal between the U.S. and India was on track and the "unique" agreement could receive the final approval by this year-end if everything moved in tandem. "The agreement is on track...the legislation is moving quickly...Our Congress has been very supportive." — PTI

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