Still no light at the end of nuke tunnel: PM

On Board PM's Special Aircraft, June 9 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said the atmospherics at his meeting with US President George W Bush were ''quite postive'', but it would take some more time before ''we see light at the end of the tunnel'' on the Indo-US civilian nuclear deal.

Mr Bush exhibited a ''sense of ownership of the nuclear deal'' and was ''appreciative of our concerns'' at the meeting held on the fringes of the G8 summit at Heiligendamm yesterday, Dr Singh told reporters while returning from his four-day visit to Germany.

Admitting that there ''are some difficulites'' over the deal, he said, ''Both of us expressed our determination to overcome them.'' Asked whether this could be done before September, when he would be going to the US to attend the UN General Assembly, he initially said it was premature to talk about it now.

''Why September, why not early,'' he retorted, quickly changing his response.

The PM said he did not discuss any timetable or deadline on the issue yesterday as the meeting was brief and Mr Bush was not well.

He said Mr Bush had a ''positive feeling'' towards India and agreed to have a meeting with him despite sickness.

Asked whether the two countries had come closer to signing the 123 Agreement, necessary for implementing the July 18, 2005 deal, he said, ''I cannot say I got the final answer yesterday.'' MORE UNI