India PM says support firmed for nuke deal

NEW DELHI, July 8 (UPI) -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says he has secured enough backing in Parliament to proceed with a long-awaited international nuclear technology deal.

Singh has lined up the support of a small party to replace the votes of his skeptical Communist Party governing coalition partners, who announced they would not support his efforts to gain U.N. approval for India to buy nuclear fuel on the open market, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

With his parliamentary support firmed, Singh's spokesman told the Times the text of an agreement was nearly done and that India could quickly finalize it and proceed with efforts to gain approval from the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

India's application for nuclear fuel access would also have to be approved by the U.S. Congress. A congressional delegation visited India last week and urged Singh to hurry the process so leaders could schedule it for a vote in early September, the newspaper said.