The Bush administration is working "very hard" to have the civilian nuclear initiative come into fruition but it is also quite aware of the fact that the "congressional clock is ticking", State Department spokesman Robert Wood said in his briefing in Washington.

Asked if the US will be changing the agreement at all, he said, "there are no plans that I know of to change the agreement. But, you know, in life you never rule things out."

"But it's obviously got to be something that both the United States and India, you know, can agree to, if there were going to be changes. But I've heard no mention of a need to, you know, adjust the agreement in any way," Wood said.

He asserted that Washington wants to see the deal through as it is critically important for both the US and India.

"We are aware that the congressional clock is ticking. And we are going to be consulting with other governments, particularly governments in the nuclear suppliers group, to try to move this process forward as quickly as we can.

"There are a number of concerns that some countries have about what's been -- about the agreement. But they are good questions, and we think we've got good answers to those," the spokesman said.

Wood said the issues raised by some NSG countries will be addressed in a number of ways and through discussions.

"And we have discussions with governments about these issues. And we will do our best to address those concerns, as the Indians are trying to do to address concerns other governments may have about the agreement," he said.

The senior State Department official did not wish to speculate on what would happen to the deal if it did not make it through this present session of Congress.