No deadlock in India-US nuclear talks: India's foreign minister

Jun 2, 2007, 18:32 GMT

New Delhi - India's Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Saturday there was no deadlock in the India-US nuclear talks and expressed optimism that the pact be worked out by both sides.

'There is no question of a deadlock,' Mukherjee told reporters after the latest round of bilateral talks between India and the US in New Delhi, led by US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns and Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.

'Certain issues are to be clinched, an agreement is still to be reached at. As and when an agreement is finalized you will come to know,' Mukherjee said.

He added that the 'talks were yet inconclusive,' but was hopeful of a positive outcome, saying 'things will come through.'

Addressing a press conference later, Menon said differences on key issues had been narrowed down in the three-day talks.

According to Menon, India and the US had moved 'closer and closer' towards an agreement to activate the civil nuclear deal. However, some outstanding issues were still left unresolved, such as India demanding the right to reprocess spent fuel, he said.

US President George W Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh signed the proposed deal in 2006 to allow the US to cooperate with India in the development of civilian nuclear technology.

The deal has been approved by the US Congress, but several issues have yet to be sorted out, including a bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear use, commonly called the 123 agreement.

The talks so far have struggled to resolve four contentious issues, including penalties for testing a nuclear device, the right of return in case India conducts nuclear tests, uninterrupted fuel supplies and the right to reprocess spent fuel.

India is also not ready to accept any legally binding clause in the pact that could cap its strategic nuclear programme.