Indo-US nuclear deal: Condoleeza Rice hopeful about year-end finaliation

Washington: US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, has expressed hope that the Indo-US nuclear deal will go through by the end of the year, saying that with will and determination the two countries should be able to finalise the deal soon. Rice was speaking in Washington at the annual meeting of the United States-India Business Council.

''I think this is a win-win if ever there were one,'' she said, adding that the deal had strong bipartisan support on the Capitol Hill.

''...I'm quite confident that if we keep after it and if we stay faithful to the agreements that our leaders signed, if we stay faithful to the legislation that we have passed...we can get the approval of our Congress and ratification in India and we can move forward."

Rice described the civilian nuclear deal as an agreement that overcame the alienation between the two countries from the Cold War era.

However, the deal ''just scratched the surface'' in areas of cooperation between two of the world's largest democracies, she said.

Without revealing details, Rice said that India and the US were getting warmer on the deal and that one could expect an agreement by the end of the year.