The Bush administration will release in Washington on Friday the details of the bilateral understanding reached between top US and Indian officials last week, on the 123 Agreement, that will give effect to their two-year-old civil nuclear deal.
Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns will brief the press on the subject at around 1930 hours.
According to reports, the government of India may do the same in New Delhi today as the agreement has already been approved by the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Cabinet.
State Department officials on Thursday briefed some US Congressmen on the agreement. Some of them had earlier expressed reservations about the deal.
A notice to the press, issued in Washington on Thursday night, said Burns would brief the press on the "status of the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Initiative and the text of the bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation (123 Agreement) on Friday, July 27, 2007."
The 'special briefing' will take place at the State Department.
Earlier, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, in reply to questions, said he was not certain whether the text of the agreement or its 'selective portions' would be released.
"Certainly, we endeavor to be more open rather than less open in the Bureau of Public Affairs, so I'll certainly make the case to be more rather than less open about all the various aspects of the agreement," he said.
Besides briefing the lawmakers on Thursday, McCormack said, "I think there have been some discussions with some members of Congress all throughout the process. So, this has been a process of negotiations where we've been working with the Indian government, but we've also been back briefing the (Capitol) Hill."
A correspondent drew his attention to the reported complaint of some of the US Congressmen that the administration had been 'very secretive' about these latest changes in the agreement.
McCormack, in reply, said, "I don't have the list of briefings.
"But you know, typically with these sorts of things, you brief a selected membership on both sides of the aisle who have the most direct oversight responsibility or leadership responsibilities. I think that's a pretty typical practice here in Washington, but bottom line, we believe that this is the right deal for US national interests, for our relationship with India, as well as for addressing our concerns about non-proliferation globally."
He acknowledged that some of the Congressmen had written to President Bush, drawing his attention to reports that the administration may have capitulated to India's demands regarding nuclear cooperation.
Democratic Lawmaker Edward J Markey, who has been a staunch critic of the agreement, sent the letter to President Bush, signed by 22 other members of Congress, reiterating that any inconsistencies between the so-called 123 Agreement, US law and the underlying intent and purpose of the Hyde Act will put final Congressional approval in doubt.
Apparently in response to this letter, McCormack made the administration's stand clear on Thursday, saying, "We're not going to agree to anything that is not in the United States' national interests. We are certainly not going to do anything that we believe is harmful to either our national security or foreign policy interests."