NEW DELHI : India on Wednesday said the "separation" of civil and military nuclear facilities, now under discussion with the United States, would be a "voluntary" process, based on the national interest.

In a written reply, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma informed the Lok Sabha that "all relevant organisations" within the Government had been consulted on the issue.

Mr. Sharma's remarks come a day ahead of the talks here between U.S. Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran on the implementation of the July 2005 nuclear deal. The separation of civil and military facilities is a key element in this.

Mr. Sharma said India and the U.S. had not signed an agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation. "The two sides are continuing their discussions to fully implement the nuclear understanding. There are outstanding issues that are being addressed."

Asked whether several top nuclear scientists and military experts had expressed concerns about the Government's decision on the separation, Mr. Sharma said: "The Government has seen reports of nuclear experts and former diplomats expressing a wide variety of views on the extent and implications of the separation."

The American Embassy said Mr. Burns would meet Mr. Saran and "other senior government leaders" to discuss President George W. Bush's visit and "further implementation" of the initiatives agreed to in the July 2005 joint statement.

Mr. Burns is likely to meet National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and may call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Apart from the question of separation of civil and nuclear facilities, the issue of "in perpetuity" safeguards being demanded by the U.S. is still to be settled.

Just a few days ago, senior government officials said there would be no point in India holding talks with the U.S. if there was no convergence of views on New Delhi's separation plan.

Of all the points contained in the July 18, 2005 joint statement, it is the nuclear deal, which has been the subject matter of debate.

Given that both Mr. Bush and Dr. Singh have invested a lot in the nuclear deal, failure on this front could well overshadow the presidential visit.

Mr. Bush is arriving on March 1. While the separation plan has been presented to the U.S., the Government has not shared its contents with the people of India.

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