U.S., India work to restart nuclear talks

NEW DELHI, June 1 (UPI) -- Bush administration officials met with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi to attempt to restart talks on a nuclear agreement between the nations.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns met Thursday with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon to discuss a compromise to restart negotiations on the agreement before an expected meeting between U.S. President George Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during next week's G8 meeting in Germany, the International Herald Tribune reported Friday.

The deal, if finalized, would allow India to address a power shortage by purchasing nuclear fuel and reactors. The agreement would name India as a "responsible" nuclear power, despite the country's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

However, negotiations over a final version of the deal stalled due to disagreements over the details.

"There is considerable work to be done on what is a very technical and detailed agreement," U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford said in a statement. "We want to finish as soon as we can and both sides are positive we can do this."