Still some distance to cover on nuke deal: Menon

New Delhi, June 2 (UNI) India and the United States have failed to clinch the 123 agreement, necessary to operationalise the July 18, 2005 nuclear deal, during the three days of talks between US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon that concluded today.

''We still have to cover some distance'' before concluding the 123 agreement, but were confident of achieving an understanding which would be fully compliant with the nuclear deal, the March 2, 2006 joint statement issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush and the various statements of Dr Singh in Parliament, Mr Menon told reporters.

The Foreign Secretary said no date had been set for the next round of negotiations, nor was there any deadline for reaching the 123 agreement.

''We have managed to remove most of the issues from the table and we want to go forward rapidly,'' he said, adding that ''quicker the issues were resolved the better'' for both the sides.

The US Embassy issued a brief release, stating that the two sides made ''some progress'' on the nuclear deal, but ''more work remains to be done to complete arrangements that will permit a civil nuclear agreement...We look forward to a final agreement as it is indisputably in the interests of both governments.'' Asked what could be read from the fact that Mr Burns was not present at the press briefing, Mr Menon said ''nothing, except that he had catch his flight'' to the United States.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would be visiting India in the next few months. The invitation for the visit was handed over to Mr Burns when he called on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee last evening. The dates would be worked out, Mr Menon said.

Mr Burns also paid a courtesy call on Dr Singh before concluding his three-day visit.

Asked whether the US law under the Hyde Act was coming in the way of implementing the July 18, 2005 joint statement, the Foreign Secretary said the US side had made it clear that the provisions of the Act would not prevent Washington from meetings its obligations under the deal.

Mr Menon said it was most likely that Dr Singh and Mr Bush would have a meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Germany next week.

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