N-deal may not be finalised during PM's US visit

New Delhi: Indo-US nuclear deal talks have reportedly run into trouble and the deal may not be finalised during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US, according to sources.

At his Tuesday summit with President Barack Obama, Manmohan Singh was to seek "a positive reaffirmation" of his administration to carry forward their landmark civil nuclear deal forged during the previous Bush administration.

India had no worries about the US honouring the consent agreement under their "landmark and watershed" nuclear deal, "but we would like a positive reaffirmation of this administration to carry forward that process", Manmohan Singh had said in an interview with Newsweek ahead of his state visit.

India is expected to receive an elaborate welcome because the relationship quietly has become one of the most important the United States has. It is seen as crucial to the US-led fight against extremists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, as a counterweight to China and as key to efforts to settle world trade and climate change deals.

PM's visit, however, comes at a delicate time. Indians are bristling over a perception that Obama neglected India during his recent trip to Asia and seemed to endorse a stronger role for China in India's sensitive dealings with Pakistan.

The tension has disturbed a wave of goodwill between the countries orchestrated by former President George W Bush, who oversaw the transformation of the relationship after decades of Cold War-era distrust.

The new ties are symbolised by a landmark civilian nuclear cooperation accord signed into law last year after years of close communication among senior Indian and US officials who negotiated and then sold the accord to lawmakers.

Obama and Singh are now consumed with steering their countries through tough economic times and with winning domestic political battles. That means less time spent nurturing a relationship that blossomed under Bush.

The US is especially interested in India's ability to help turn the tide against violent extremism in South Asia. US officials are pushing Pakistan to focus its military attention on extremists along the border with Afghanistan, not on India, its neighbor and bitter rival.

India and the US are cooperating on defense, energy, education, agriculture, economy and counter-terror initiatives.

Sharp differences, however, exist on carbon emissions and whether India should be part of an international agreement setting legally binding limits on its emissions.

(With agency inputs)