US-India nuke deal talks in last stage: Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that negotiations pertaining to the formalisation of the July 18, 2005 US-India civil nuclear copperation agreement were in the last stages, and he was hopeful about a positive outcome.

New Delhi, July 18 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday that negotiations pertaining to the formalisation of the July 18, 2005 US-India civil nuclear copperation agreement were in the last stages, and he was hopeful about a positive outcome.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a book release, Dr. Singh said: 'We are in the last leg of negotiations."

Asked when he expected the deal to be finalised, the Prime Minister replied: "I can't say".

National Security Advisor M K Narayanan is presently in Washington, leading a high-profile Indian delegation in parleys to iron out differences with the American leadership on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

Indian and US officials were today engaged in a fresh round of negotiations in Washington to conclude the civil nuclear agreement, with Washington saying there are a couple of "tough issues" left to be resolved, but admitted that the deal was within reach.

On Monday, talks were held with senior American functionaries on bilateral defence cooperation and regional security issues.

The U.S. side was led by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The Indian side was represented by Indian Ambasador to the United States Ronen Sen, Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, Deputy Chief of the Indian Mission here, Raminder Singh Jassal, and Joint Secretary of the Americas in the Ministry of External Affairs Gaitri Kumar.

The precise nature of the talks was not revealed.

The Indian delegation is expected to have sensitive and critical exchanges with their American counterparts at the State Department. The Indian delegation will meet Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and his team to sort out the differences on the 123 accord.

ANI