Washington:" The Indo-US civil nuclear agreement has deepened relationship between the two countries and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would work with her Indian counterparts to build on the impetus provided by it," the State Department has said.

Asked about the future of Indo-US ties in the context of the recent events, the State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said, " The future is wide open, obviously. We are.concluding the civil nuclear agreement and there's a lot of hard work left to do to implement that agreement"

"We have removed one of those obstacles to more full, broader and deeper relations between the United States and India. In large part, these relationships are going to be governed by nongovernmental interactions, business interactions, people-to-people exchanges, U.S students studying in India, Indian students studying in the United States," he said.

"You would see the Secretary seeking to build on those- this relationship, talking about how we might cooperate further in political, economic as well as diplomatic endeavors. There are a number of different interests that we have in common. And in the coming months and in the remaining two years, I'm sure you will see the Secretary work with her Indian counterparts to build on the good start that we have," he added.