The United States is hopeful that the governments of the two countries would be able to wrap up the Indo-US civil nuclear deal before the time runs out for poll-bound US  Congress to ratify the pact. It is also trying to mobilise support in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

According to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, enough US lawmakers backed the pact to secure its ratification. Though she said that there would not be too many Congress sessions left to approve the deal, she said, "We think we can move forward with this."

She noted that US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had discussed the nuclear deal when they met recently in Japan on the sidelines of the G-8 summit.

National Security Council spokesperson Gordon Johndroe also said that the US looked forward to continuing to work with India on the civil nuclear deal and further strengthening the strategic partnership.

Meanwhile, the US State Department stressed that the Bush administration will not only be working domestically to get the arrangement finalised but also at the IAEA and the NSG.

Acting spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said although the Congressional calendar was very tight, the administration will be moving forward on this deal quickly. "We look forward to continuing to work with the government of India to move forward the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative."

Gallegos said this initiative represented a unique opportunity to assist India in meeting its growing energy needs, while bolstering the overall nonproliferation regime and strengthening US-India ties.

The next step in this process is for India's safeguards agreement to be approved by the IAEA's board of governors. And the US looks forward to the 1 August meeting of the board and strongly supports approval of the agreement at that time.

The US is already holding discussions with IAEA board members, some of whom are still reviewing the safeguards agreement.

Gallegos  also said that Washington was making efforts at the NSG adding that even after securing aprovals from the IAEA and the NSG, the nuclear deal would still have to be approved by the US Congress.

"We're going to be communicating to the Hill how important we believe this measure is for the United States, how important we believe that this strategic partnership will be for India, for us, and for others concerned with security around the world. And we'll do so as quickly as we can," Gallegos said.