By IANS
New Delhi : US envoy David Mulford Sunday sought to downplay the controversy over the visit of the aircraft carrier Nimitz, even as he expressed confidence that the landmark India-US civilian nuclear deal would soon be concluded.
In an interview to NDTV, he also said it was "not true" that the nuclear deal and an Indian Air Force (IAF) order for 126 combat aircraft were interlinked.
Noting that the nuclear-powered USS Nimitz was coming into Indian territorial waters with New Delhi's "consent", Mulford did not think the opposition to the visit by the Left parties that support the government from outside were a hindrance to India-US relations.
"I don't think it is really. If you look at what happened between the two countries, we have had a growing military to military relationship over the past three to four years with a growing number of exercises," the ambassador maintained.
The ship was to berth at the Chennai harbour Sunday midnight for a four-day goodwill visit.
On the civilian nuclear deal, he said "a few issues" are left that are "difficult" and "need attention" at the political level.
"I am confident the two countries will see it through. The negotiations are difficult and very technical. If it were an easy negotiation, we would have finished it a long time ago.
"We are going to have a re-engagement very soon on July 16. We have a few issues left that are difficult and that need political level attention. We hope we can work our way through that and complete it as soon as possible," Mulford maintained.
Replying to a question whether there was a quid-pro-quo between the deal and the IAF order, he said: "I don't think it is true.
"I mean there are lots of fighter aircraft (in contention). The process has been developing. Our defence manufacturers are keen to participate. We have what we think are top of the line aircraft so I think we would be very competitive, especially if it is looked at in terms of life cycle costs," Mulford contended.