By IANS
New Delhi : India Wednesday said it has made "further progress" in civil nuclear negotiations with the US, but some "gaps" still need to be bridged before the two sides can clinch the 123 bilateral pact that will lead to nuclear commerce between the two countries.
Indian and American technical experts held two-day discussions on the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation pact in London that ended Tuesday during which New Delhi clarified its concepts on key issues like nuclear testing and its demand for access to reprocessing technologies.
"We have clarified certain concepts and made further progress towards a mutually agreed text," external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna told reporters here in response to a question.
There are certain gaps that need to be bridged, he said.
"Discussions will continue," he added.
US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, Washington's chief negotiator on the nuclear deal, was scheduled to come to India this week, but had to put off his visit indefinitely amid speculation about the 123 negotiations skidding off the track.
No fresh dates have been set for Burns' visit.
In Washington, Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher has said that the US and India have exchanged written proposals to bridge the gaps on details of the deal.
Boucher said that during the May 1 talks between Burns and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, the two sides had "identified potential solutions on most of the outstanding issues". He also clarified that Burns would go to New Delhi to seal the deal only after the differences over the 123 text were narrowed to one or two remaining issues.
India and the US are engaged in last-ditch negotiations to reach a final 123 bilateral nuclear agreement before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George W. Bush meet on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in Germany next month.
However, the prospects of a deal by the time the G8 summit takes place appear none too bright.
Earlier this month, Bush had telephoned Manmohan Singh to give an impetus to the 123 pact, named after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act, that will be the sole legal document governing civilian nuclear cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides are hoping that the 123 pact, once finalised, could be signed during a likely visit by Manmohan Singh to Washington in September.
Even as the two sides push hard to finalise the 123 pact, crucial differences over nuclear testing continue to dog the negotiations. India is not ready to go beyond voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing to preserve its strategic autonomy intact whereas the US is insisting on including a clause in the 123 pact that envisages termination of civil nuclear cooperation should India conduct a nuclear test.
India is also demanding the right to be given prior approval for reprocessing of US-origin spent fuel, which Washington is not yet ready to accede. The US has, however, shown a willingness to accommodate India's demand for fuel guarantees for the entire lifetime of its reactors it will place under international safeguards.
Manmohan Singh said last week that "serious negotiations" were going on between the two sides and he was "hopeful" of sealing the 123 agreement with the US.