New Delhi: Observing that the talks on the nuclear deal were 'complicated' as it entailed changing the 'world architecture' in the field, the US has said 'every effort' is being made to conclude the deal before President George W Bush arrives here on Wednesday.
US Ambassador to India, David C Mulford, said though the civil nuclear deal was a very important in the Indo-US ties, it was one among many issues of cooperation between the two countries.
"In the last few weeks, there have been a series of meetings and negotiations. These continue," he said two days after US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns concluded the third round of negotiations with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on implementation of the July 18-deal.
Mulford told news agencies' reporters that the negotiating atmosphere has been positive. "But, of course, this is a very complicated area. Both the countries are breaking new ground."
He said the progress is continuing and "we are hoping we can reach the agreement by the time the President visits here and every effort is being made to do so."
If the deal does not come through by the time of the visit, the negotiations will continue after that, he said.
Refusing to go into the specifics of the negotiations, the envoy said the talks are covering every aspect of the deal.
The two sides have acknowledged that differences remained on various aspects involving the deal but asserted that both were committed to continue the dialogue.
"The nuclear energy is a complex field. For both sides, it is a complicated issue," Mulford said, pointing out that the engagement between the two countries on the issue would entail "changing the world architecture in the non-proliferation area."
The Ambassador said the nuclear deal will involve consensus of 35 countries of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the US Congress as well as India's political and scientific community.
Bush has a broad support for the Indo-US relationship, he said.
To a question, Mulford said mutual suspicions between the two countries of Cold-War era have 'much diminished now' and the bilateral relationship was growing, covering almost all areas.
Noting that both India and the US were 'huge democracies' having several things in common like diversity and democracy, he said it was not necessary that both countries agree on every issue.
On Kashmir, he said Bush had made it clear that there was 'no change' in the US policy. He said Washington was 'encouraging' all parties to make progress on the peace initiatives.
With PTI inputs
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