By Arun Kumar
Washington, Nov 18(IANS) Allaying any concerns in New Delhi about Washington warming up to Beijing, the US Wednesday made it clear that building better relations with China or any other country would not be at the cost of India.

“Of course, we are interested in building better relations with China, but that does not mean it has to be at the cost of India,” US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns said when asked about President Barrack Obama not mentioning India in a major speech about Asia’s role in world affairs.

The clearest indication of this was the fact that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington next week would be the first hosted by the Obama administration, he said speaking at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington think tank.

On matters of common international concern, the US looked to China and many other countries, said Burns, who is among the top US officials giving finishing touches to a “strategic dialogue framework with India” to take their relationship to the next level during the visit.

In this context he commended India’s contribution in Afghanistan, noting that New Delhi had provided more than a billion dollars worth of development assistance to Afghanistan for many projects.

Like many other US officials before him, Burns reassured India that it is firmly committed to full implementation of their landmark civil nuclear deal as quickly as possible.

“We look forward to the completion of the remaining steps on both sides,” he said, noting that US companies stand to benefit a great deal with the implementation of the nuclear deal following the allocation of two nuclear reactor park sites in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat exclusively for US firms.