Thursday, February 23 2006 15:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns today said that 'some differences' on the implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal persisted between the two sides and he was not sure whether it would be finalised by the time President George W Bush visits the country next week.

"Both of us want to complete these negotations but there are still some remaining differences between us and those differences need to be worked out," he told reporters after talks with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran here.

"We simply don't know whether we will have an agreement before President Bush's visit. We are trying our best, both sides," Burns said.

He said he had 'good conversation' with the Foreign Secretary 'but there are still remaining differences'.

Referring to Bush's address to Asia Society in Washington yesterday, Burns said the President had made it clear that the separation plan must be transparent and credible and "So we are still working on these issues".

Earlier, Saran and Burns met for the third round of talks here to iron out differences on the deal on which the US says '90 per cent' of negotiations have been completed.

The two sides had encountered 'difficulties' over the issue of separation, with the US insisting that India put more reactors than it was ready to in the civilian side. These included the home-grown fast breeder reactors (FBRs), a move opposed by New Delhi.