Islamabad, March 13:

US energy secretary Samuel Bodman arrived in Pakistan for talks today, with a recent US-Indian nuclear deal and a proposed gas pipeline to Iran likely to top the agenda.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said the meetings in Islamabad would focus on enhancing energy cooperation between the United States and Pakistan, a key ally in Washington’s ‘war on terror’. “During secretary Bodman’s visit, there will be a wide-ranging exchange of viewes on Pakistan’s energy needs and cooperation with the US in this field,” she said. Pakistan’s foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri will lead a delegation including the chairman of the country’s atomic energy commission, plus top bureaucrats from the foreign, petroleum and water and power ministries.

Bodman’s visit comes just over a week after US president George W Bush’s maiden tour of South Asia, during which he signed a landmark civilian nuclear energy deal with Pakistan’s historic rival India.

Bush had appeared to soften on a proposed pipeline to supply Iranian natural gas to India and Pakistan.