India, US seek to finalise nuke deal draft

Both sides have exchanged drafts of the pact over the past few months and the three-day talks are aimed at helping achieve a final consensus, officials said.

"These talks are crucial but there may not be any major announcement at the end of it as both sides will have to go back to their governments for more consultations," one Indian official said.

The nuclear deal, agreed in principle last July to permit US civil nuclear technology sales to India for the first time in three decades, has run into trouble in Washington.

US Congressmen and non-proliferation experts have criticized the deal, saying it encourages atomic weapons proliferation and gives away too much to India, which has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).