Clinton intended to visit India and Pakistan at the earliest possible time, he said, but expressed doubts whether visit to Islamabad would take place in view of the military coup there.

"There is no pre-condition. He (Clinton) intends to come here at the earliest possible time," Ackerman said in reply to a question at a FICCI interaction whether there was any pre-condition set by the US for President Clinton's visit to India.

Stressing that both India and US have to create an enabling situation for a productive visit of Clinton, possibly early next year, Ackerman, however, said `nuclear chilling' after Pokhran nuclear tests and signing of CTBT seem to be the crux of the problem for taking the bilateral relations to a higherpoint.

"I believe the process of overcoming the trust deficiency syndrome has already begun. The ongoing talks between US Secretary of State Strobe Tolbot and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh clearly indicate that we may at last be moving in the right direction," he said.

"I am very optimistic that these talks will usher in substantive shift in how we conduct our relations," he said adding "this shift in mindset and emphasis is very necessary to ensure US and India emerge as strategic partners."