Nudging India to get moving on the Indo-US nuclear deal, the US President George W Bush wants to see progress in what he believes is a "very important agreement."
The latest US reminder to move forward on the stalled deal came hours before the United Progressive Alliance-Left coordination panel was to meet in New Delhi to break the deadlock with the two sides refusing to budge from their known positions.
"We would like to see progress in India and that would certainly help our Congress as well," White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said at her briefing on Tuesday.
"But the president keeps regularly updated on it. He thinks it's a very important agreement," she said when asked by reporters whether the president was briefed on the last ditch efforts being made in India to save the deal.
Perino's comments were yet another reminder to the UPA government in the recent days to move forward on the deal in an attempt to see that the remaining steps is concluded, including getting the green signal from the US Congress before the end of Bush's term on January 20, 2009.
State Department Spokesman Tom Casey said on Tuesday, "Every day that goes by is one less day on the legislative calendar for us to be able to have congressional action take place. So, it certainly gets harder every day that is delayed."
Casey also reiterated that the nuclear deal was in the interest of all parties concerned in a bid to counter criticism from within India that the deal is not in national interest.
The official also hoped that the next administration would also support the nuclear deal.