Sunday, January 8 2006 12:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: India and the US will hold the next round of high-level talks on the nuclear issue here later this month amid efforts by the two countries to expedite implementation of the July 18 nuclear deal before the visit here by President George W Bush expected next month.

The talks between Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns will take place in the third week of this month, official sources said here today (Jan 08, 2006).

During the meeting, India will expect a response from the American side on the 'outline' provided to them by Saran about separating civilian and military nuclear facilities as required under the July 18 deal inked during the Washington visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Foreign Secretary gave the 'outline' to the US during talks with Burns in Washington last month with an assertion that New Delhi would not place fast-breeding reactors in the civilian list.

In the outline, India has specified as to what installations it would categorise as civilian and which ones as military, the sources said.

"Now, the US has to react and we are awaiting that", the sources said.

The Indian plan on separation of civilian and military nuclear facilities, as per the deal, would be presented before the US Congress, which has to ratify the Bush administration's decision to ease sanctions on high-technology trade.

New Delhi is not worried on this aspect. "We have no problems. The deal is not a secret but is being conducted in a transparent manner," the sources said.

The Bush government has been insisting that India should present a 'credible' plan on separation of nuclear facilities before it approaches the Congress for ratification of its decision on sanctions.

Noting that 'progress' was being made in parleys, the sources said the two countries were making "every effort to conclude or substantially conclude the deal before the visit of President Bush".

After the recent talks Saran had with Burns, the sources said, India feels that the dialogue is 'on track' and the two countries should be able to have convergence if all goes well".

The US will also then be required to influence the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) so that they also ease sanctions on India on dual-use technology trade.