PM hopeful of concluding Indo-US N-deal despite delay

NEW DELHI: As India is set to begin talks with the IAEA on the Safeguards Agreement, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said he has not given up hope of a satisfactory outcome in the process of concluding the Indo-US nuclear deal.
    
He sounded optimistic on the negotiations coming to a successful conclusion at an early date so that the agreement could be presented before the UPA-Left Coordination Committee.
    
"There has been some delay. I cannot deny it. But I still hope the process of building a viable national consensus will yield satisfactory results. So I haven't given up hope that we can reach a final, satisfactory outcome of this matter," said Singh, who was talking to reporters en-route to Singapore to attend the ASEAN Summit.
    
He was replying to a question on whether he was hopeful of a timeframe for concluding the nuclear deal.
    
Asked what were the chances of the nuclear deal going through if a consensus proved to be elusive, he said, "We will cross the bridge when we reach there."