"It represents a new level of cooperation between our countries and we also think it represents a strengthening of non-proliferation regimes. We want to see this move forward and again, we've talked about the civil nuclear arrangement for a number of months now, but it is something that we believe is beneficial to both nations," he said. "Certainly, we believe that such a deal is in the interest of both countries. In New Delhi, Burns, will continue the discussions on the 123 agreement that's an important component of implementing the overall US-India civil nuclear deal, Casey said. He would not predict if anything will come out of this particular Burns trip, "but we're making progress, and we look forward to eventually concluding the deal." "But the Indian government understands that, and I think we're well on our way towards an agreement." We certainly don't think any of them are insurmountable."Ĭasey said there are limits to the kind of flexibility that Washington can have as it must ensure that the final accord does conform with the relevant US legislation. There are some differences that remain, but we're looking forward to being able to work those out. "Obviously, we've been talking about this for a while.
"That's something that I'll leave to the negotiators to do," he said. As Nicholas Burns, its key negotiator on the civil nuclear deal with India, headed for New Delhi, the US said some differences still remain over the implementing 123 agreement, but these are not insurmountable.Īfter playing coy over the visit on Tuesday, state department deputy spokesman Tom Casey on Wednesday confirmed that Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, was indeed going to Delhi from Berlin where he is for G-8 meetings, but declined to spell them out.