White House says US-India nuclear talks 'not there yet'

     Washington: It may not be possible to reach a landmark nuclear agreement between India and the United States by the time President George W. Bush travels to New Delhi next week, a top Bush adviser said on Friday. The deal, first agreed to in principle last July, aims to give India access to long-denied U.S. nuclear equipment and fuel to meet its soaring energy needs. "In this latest round, the Indians provided a document about a week ago. We provided some additional ideas in response. Nick Burns (U.S.Undersecretary of State) went to India. There have been good consultations. He is now coming back to Washington to report on where we are on those discussions. We're making progress but we're not yet there," White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters here.

   The deal, agreed to in principle last July, has run into trouble. The United States insists a plan to separate India's civilian and military nuclear programmes, on which the deal hinges, must be credible and transparent to prevent proliferation. If an agreement is reached, it would be a big achievement for Bush's trip. Hadley insisted if a deal is not sealed, it would not mar Bush's visit. "We would obviously like, and the Indians would like to use the occasion of this visit to reach agreement on this separation agreement, so-called. We think that would be a good thing, but it's important to have a good agreement that works for the Indians, works for the United States, will be acceptable to our Congress and to the nuclear suppliers group and that's our objective. We'd like to get it before the trip. If we can, great. If we can't, we'll continue to negotiate it after the trip," said Hadley. Bush told India's Doordarshan television the nuclear agreement was a "tough issue" for both sides. Bush departs on Tuesday for his first visits to India and Pakistan. He will hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi to bolster what Hadley called a U.S.-Indian "strategic partnership."

    Hadley said the main obstacle to an agreement was getting clarification from the Indian side "about what's in the civil side and what's on the military side." "It's just a, getting some clarification from the Indian side, about what's in the civil side, and what's on the military side, not only in terms of what exists now at this time, but what are going to be the ground rules going forward. There's a lot of technical aspects to it," said Hadley. Bush will also hold talks with Indian business leaders amid a surge of U.S. job outsourcing to India and a 30 percent increase in U.S. exports, than in the past year. Ending his trip in Islamabad, Bush will underscore U.S.-Pakistani cooperation in the war on terrorism with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. While Human Rights Watch called on Bush to urge Musharraf to end military rule, Bush did not sound like he was going to put much pressure on the Pakistani leader. While in Islamabad, Bush plans to see cricket. On the Indian-U.S. nuclear deal, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, Nicholas Burns was returning to Washington to report on his two days of talks with Indian Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. The deal would not only give India access to U.S. civilian atomic technology but help lift a global ban on New Delhi receiving similar supplies from other nuclear nations. But Washington's desire to see a large chunk of India's 22 nuclear reactors placed under international safeguards has rankled India's nuclear establishment.

    Hadley said the main obstacle to an agreement was getting clarification from the Indian side "about what's in the civil side and what's on the military side -- not only in terms of what exists now, at this time, but what are going to be the ground rules going forward." Hadley said the nuclear deal with bring both Washington and New Delhi on the same platform. "I think what the nuclear agreement does is it brings India into and has India accepting the kinds of proliferation restrictions that the rest of the international community has accepted. Because the U.S.-Indian civil nuclear cooperation is premised on India and the United States getting on the same page with respect to proliferation," he said. The deal has also come under strong opposition from the American non-proliferation lobby, which says cooperation with India -- which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- would let it expand its military program and also encourage other countries to do the same.

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