Paulson hopeful of nuclear deal coming through

New Delhi, Oct 30 (UNI) US Treasury Secretary Henry S Paulson today exuded optimism that the Indo-US Nuclear deal would fructify, saying that India needs to follow its political process to resolve internal conflicts on the issue.

''The United States values the fact that India is a vibrant democracy and democratic processes need to work to come to a conclusion on the deal,'' Mr Paulson said addressing a session at the ongoing three-day conference organised by the 'Fortune Global Forum' here.

''Let the process in India work on the civilian nuclear deal,'' Mr Paulson said.

The US Treasury Secretary's comments came in response to a question from well known American columnist Thomas Friedman who was moderating the session.

Mr Friedman, a three time Pulitzer Prize winner, is the author of the famous book 'The World is flat.' ''It is important to get the deal implemented as soon as possible. We believe that it is good for the US and India,'' he said.

Mr Paulson said relations between the US and India were at their zenith and the strongest he has seen in more than three decades.

Talking about the sub-prime crisis in the US, he said it was too early to call an end to the housing slump.

''We have not hit the bottom in housing yet. There is enough strength in the economy that we can grow through this,'' he said.

Mr Paulson affirmed that the US was committed to a strong dollar adding that currencies need to be set in open markets based on economic fundamentals.

The financial expert said China still needs to go some way to ensure the Yuan is market-determined.

The US government is still trying to assess as to what went wrong in the sub-prime crisis, particularly focussing on the role of credit agencies and accounting rules related to structured investment vehicles, he said.

''While markets will take a while to work through the fallout of the sub-prime crisis, they are doing better every day,'' he said.

Mr Paulson said the main capital markets of the world were still performing well.

UNI