The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, New Delhi

India needs to follow its political processes to resolve internal disputes over a nuclear energy deal with the United States, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Paulson said the U.S. valued the fact that India was "a vibrant democracy" and said democratic processes needed to work for the country to come to a conclusion on the nuclear deal.

"Let's let the process in India work on the civilian nuclear deal," Paulson said at a global business conference.

Another report adds: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice emphasized U.S. support for a stalled civil nuclear deal with India in a conversation with Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday, the State Department said.

The agreement aims to give India access to U.S. nuclear fuel and equipment, overturning a three-decade ban imposed after New Delhi, which has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, conducted a nuclear test in 1974.

The accord has been become entangled in Indian domestic politics because the communist coalition allies of Prime Minister Mahmohan Singh have threatened to withdraw their parliamentary support for his government if it goes ahead.