India's prime minister said on Friday he was hopeful of sealing a crucial civil nuclear agreement with the United States, amid reports of differences between the two sides. "I am hopeful. We are in for serious negotiations. Talks are going on," Manmohan Singh told the Press Trust of India. Singh's remarks followed media reports that a visit by a top US negotiator to India may have been delayed.
India's foreign ministry said on Thursday that no dates had been finalised for the visit of US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, who was scheduled to arrive in New Delhi next week.
Burns was scheduled to hold talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.
Under the agreement, India will get access to previously-denied nuclear fuel and technology without having to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as required by US law.
But differences persist, chiefly over a clause which states the US would withdraw civil nuclear fuel supplies and equipment if India breaches its unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing.
India also wants the explicit right to reprocess nuclear fuel, in contradiction of US law.
Last week, a public-interest petition filed in the Supreme Court demanded that the government refrain "from hurriedly executing any agreement" with the United States until it had been examined by a court-appointed committee.
Source: Agence France-Presse
