NEW DELHI, May 31 (Xinhua) -- India and the United States Thursday began crucial talks on ironing out differences on the civilian nuclear deal between the two nations ahead of a meeting between their top political leaders in Germany next month, Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported.

    U.S. Under Secretary For Political Affairs Nicolas Burns, who arrived here Thursday on a three-day visit, is to meet Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshanker Menon for talks on the nuclear agreement.

    The talks will focus on four key areas: reprocessing of spent fuel, the technology for reprocessing, the right to continue testing, and uninterrupted fuel supplies.

    IANS quoted unnamed Indian officials as saying that there are major differences between India and the U.S. on all four issues and intensive negotiations would be required if the text of the nuclear agreement is to be finalized by the time Burns leaves Saturday for the G8 Summit in Germany, on the sidelines of which Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President George Bush will be meeting.