Govt moving inch by inch for consensus on nuke deal: Nath

"We are moving toward a political consensus inch by inch. I don't think it has been put away and I am confident that at some point we are going to arrive at this political consensus within India and that's the best way to do it," Nath said during a talk show.

The comments come close on the heels of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicating in New Delhi that his government will be able to convince the Left allies, who have been stoutly opposing the deal.

"Our domestic politics has prevented us from going ahead," Singh had said, adding, "I still continue to hope that we will make progress in the months that lie ahead".Nath said the government was moving forward on the deal.

"People have apprehension.... there are angularities across the world and in the Indian political system. We are trying to arrive at a broad political consensus and that is what we have done," he said during an interactive session with talk show host Charlie Rose at the 33rd anniversary celebrations of the United States India Business Council (USIBC).

Nath said it was not only an energy issue but also a great tribute to India's outstanding record in nuclear capability management.

The deal is seen as tottering by many in the US and even taken for being "dead" on account of the political stalemate in New Delhi on the issue.

Meanwhile, former National Security Advisor and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said the relationship between India and the US would continue to remain strong no matter what the outcome of the civilian nuclear initiative was.

"I have been involved in encouraging India towards the nuclear deal. It is now an Indian problem. It (India) doesn't need any lectures. It understands the imperatives of each decision," Kissinger said.

"When the decision is made we will welcome it and live with it. Our relations will be strong no matter what the decision," the former top official in the Nixon and Ford administrations said.

India's Ambassador to the United States, Ronen Sen, spoke of the future prospects, bilateral and multilateral, in the relationship and referred to energy security as one of the challenges.

Sen pointed to the fact of the use of nuclear energy in the world, 70 per cent in France, 40 per cent in Switzerland, 20 per cent in the United States, 16 per cent in Russia and 3 per cent in India.

"The building blocks for the civilian nuclear cooperation are in place. I sincerely hope that we take this to the logical conclusion," he said.