New Delhi: Ahead of Thursday's scheduled discussion on the India-United States nuclear deal in the Rajya Sabha, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday held consultations with key officials responsible for piloting the agreement through its final stages.

Those present at the `formal' review meeting with Dr. Singh were Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Anil Kakodkar, Principal Scientific Adviser R. Chidambaram, National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran.

Contrary to earlier reports, the Prime Minister will not be meeting the group of eight senior retired nuclear scientists — among them three former chairmen of the A.E.C. — who issued a statement earlier this week expressing concerns about the deal. "I suppose the Government's idea of consulting scientists is to speak only to those who are part of Government," A.N. Prasad, one of the retired scientists, told The Hindu . He added that neither he nor any of the statement's signatories was invited by the Prime Minister's Office to discuss their apprehensions with Dr. Singh.

Although no meeting is on the cards, the Government said on Wednesday that it welcomed the concerns expressed by the scientists. Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma told The Hindu that the Government would respond to the issues raised by them in their letter to MPs during the discussion in Parliament.

Echoing many of the concerns voiced by the Left parties and the Opposition, the scientists had urged Parliament to lay down clear guidelines for the implementation of the nuclear deal so that the country's future freedom of action in the nuclear field was not constrained in any way. The Left parties will meet on Thursday morning to finalise their floor strategy for the Rajya Sabha debate.

Mr. Sharma said the Government was mindful of the scientists' concerns and was committed to the statements it had made earlier in Parliament. Mr. Sharma also pointed out the fact that the scientists had welcomed the July 18 joint statement.

The scientists' letter was prompted by concerns that the U.S. Congress is rewriting the terms of the July 2005 agreement by imposing new conditions on India and reneging on Washington's own commitments to "full" civil nuclear cooperation.

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