The United States and India next week will make another attempt at salvaging their controversial nuclear cooperation agreement but US officials are cautious about the likelihood of progress.
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, who will hold talks on Monday and Tuesday in Washington with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, said: "We think the Indian government wants to achieve the agreement."
But he indicated the two sides had not found a way to bridge serious differences.
The much-heralded deal would give India access to US nuclear fuel and reactors for the first time in 30 years, despite the fact that New Delhi tested nuclear weapons and has never signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
But disputes over India's intentions on nuclear testing and reprocessing have not been resolved and both US president George Bush and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh are under political constraints that limit their ability to compromise.
The Indian ambassador in Washington has told US congressional aides that "nothing is insurmountable." But some US experts say differences are so profound, it is increasingly unlikely the deal can be done before Bush leaves office in January 2009.