Visiting Indian Minister of External Affairs Pranap Mukherjee said here on Tuesday that India needs more time before its stalled nuclear deal with the United States could be finalized.
"We are trying to resolve the issues but it may take some more time," Mukherjee told a news conference after his talks with U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"At this juncture, it is difficult for me to indicate any time frame by which we will be able to complete this process," Mukherjee said, citing objections by some Indian lawmakers on the disputed agreement.
The United States and India reached the historic agreement on civil nuclear cooperation in March 2006, under which India will get access to U.S. civil nuclear technology on condition that India is to separate nuclear facilities for civilian and military use and open its nuclear facilities for inspection.
While India's government called the U.S.-India civil nuclear cooperation deal a "landmark agreement," opposers in India's parliament believed that the nuclear agreement will compromise New Delhi's military program and ally it more closely with the United States.
Source:Xinhua
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