No compromise on nuke deal with US

"We have preserved all our basic positions. We have preserved our basic interests," Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said in a transcript of a television interview published by the Press Trust of India on Sunday.

He also dismissed suggestions that New Delhi would come under pressure from Washington to cap its nuclear weapons programme, saying the deal only referred to cooperation in civilian nuclear technology.

"I see no reason why there should be anxieties that we are always vulnerable to pressure," Saran was quoted as saying in an interview an Indian TV channel to be broadcast later Sunday.

"Why are we always so worried about screws being tightened on us....as if someone can come and turn the screws on us and we just lie back and be screwed."

The landmark India-US nuclear deal -- concluded on March 2 during a visit by US President George W. Bush -- would lift an embargo on the transfer of nuclear fuel and technology to India for civilian purposes.

New Delhi has promised to separate its military and civil facilities, opening most of the latter to international inspections.

The deal must be ratified by the US Congress and the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group.

US opponents say the deal abandons non-proliferation principles and will complicate efforts to curb the spread of atomic weapons elsewhere, such as in Iran and North Korea.

Several US lawmakers including Republican House leader Dennis Hastert and Republican Senator Charles Hagel are scheduled to travel to India in the coming days to discuss the deal.

On Friday, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher said he hoped there would be a congressional "vote in a few months from now" but cautioned that the full implementation of the agreement might take "maybe a year at best."