Washington: The Republican and Democratic leaders were working to resolve their difference and hammer out a Unanimous Consent agreement that will push the US-India civilian nuclear deal to the floor of the Senate for debate and vote during the current 'Lame Duck' session.

"We are also continuing our efforts to reach an agreement for the consideration of the US-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said in concluding remarks at the end of business day yesterday.

Although leaders of Republican and Democratic parties have said that they are keen on tabling the civilian nuclear deal in the Senate, they and senior staffers are still working on the broad parameters of how the Bill will be debated and voted.

Though the bill has strong bi-partisan support, the point of disagreement is on the number of amendments that are to be offered to the legislation.

 Prior to adjournment in September, the Republican Party had indicated that it was willing to accomodate as many as six amendments but apparently the Democrats were insisting on three times that number.

Along with the final accord on the number of amendments, the Unanimous Consent agreement will also specify the length of overall debate for the Bill with time to be equally split between parties as also the time limit on the discussion for each one of the amendments.

Senator Russel Feingold issued a statement yesterday saying that he will offer an amendment to ensure that American nuclear assistance to India is civilian in nature and will not be used to further develop the country's nuclear weapons capability.