PM to address both Houses on N-deal

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will make a statement on the Indo-United States nuclear deal in Parliament on February 27, two days ahead of US President George W Bush's visit.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister P R Dasmunsi told reporters that Dr Singh will make the suo motu statement in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

He, however, was not sure whether the prime minister would respond immediately to clarifications on the statement in the Rajya Sabha.

• Exclusive: 'N-deal failure will hit ties'

With both countries keen to wrap up an agreement in the run-up to Bush's visit, U S Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns will be holding talks with Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on Thursday.

Burns, the deal's chief negotiator, said on the eve of his visit that 90 percent of the agreement has already been worked out. The negotiations for the agreement faced difficulties on India's plan to separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities.

Anil Kakodkar, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who played a key role in the July deal, had made it clear that placing India's fast breeder reactor programme under IAEA safeguards would not be in India's national interest.

Complete coverage: The Indo-US nuclear tango