A delegation of US officials arrived in New Delhi to hold closed door meetings with their Indian counterparts to discuss various aspects of the Indo-US nuclear deal and the proposed 123 agreement in particular.

The delegation led by a senior State Department official includes experts from its Department of Energy, Department of Defence and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The officials’ names have not been divulged.

A State Department official said the delegation would hold a series of closed door meetings and continue the nuclear dialogue.

This is the fifth official round of follow-up conversation on this issue since June, the official said, adding that there have been a number of informal meetings.

During their stay in India till November 9, the delegation would brief Indian officials regarding the status of the legislation in the US Congress, which is now pending in the Senate.

They will also continue with their discussions on the specifics of the nuclear deal, including the 123 agreement which is the most important. The 123 agreement concerns the ensuring that the deal is in conformity with the provisions of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954.

As per the initial schedule, this meeting was scheduled to be followed up by the meeting between the US Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns, and the Indian Foreign Secretary, Shiv Shankar Menon.

However, Burns’ visit was postponed due to other pressing diplomatic engagements, mainly the Korean crisis.