New Delhi, June 14 (IANS) Stating they had made "good progress" during their talks here on the modalities of the India-US civilian nuclear deal, officials of the two countries said Wednesday they would meet "fairly soon" for another round of discussions.
Neither side, however, released an official statement on the three-day talks that concluded Wednesday.

The two countries had made "good progress to reach an agreed text" on what is termed the 123 Agreement, officials said.

The 123 Agreement requires a cap on future nuclear tests by India. New Delhi feels this should be voluntary and not imposed.

The agreement gets its name after Section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954 that first calls for a bilateral cooperation pact before a comprehensive nuclear deal with another country.

The two sides had "productive discussions" on this, the officials said.

The Indian side at the talks was headed by Joint Secretary (America) S. Jaishankar and included officials from the Department of Atomic Energy that is under the direct charge of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The three-member US side was led by Richard J.K. Stratford, director, Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs at the US State Department, and includes officials from the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The officials also discussed the draft agreements exchanged in London last month when India's Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran met US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns.

India and the US had pledged to cooperate in civilian nuclear energy in a joint statement after a meeting in Washington in July last year between US President George W. Bush and Manmohan Singh.

This intent was formalized during Bush's visit to New Delhi in March, based on which plans were worked out for separating India's civil and military nuclear facilities.

The US Congress also needs to approve an amendment in its nuclear legislation, which prohibits nuclear trade with any country that is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty - an accord that New Delhi calls discriminatory.

The US Congress has to approve the amendment by the end of this month since it goes into recess in the first week of July after which preparations will start for mid-term elections in November, diplomatic sources said.