Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher maintained that the Hyde Act will apply in terms of allowing the US Administration to pursue civil nuclear cooperation with India but refused to clearly spell out the fallout on the agreement if India were to conduct an atomic test.

"The time is short... The time is tight, very tight and there is lot of work to be done," Boucher told a press conference in New Delhi when asked about the fate of the nuclear deal.

The US official, who discussed the status of nuclear deal with Indian officials, said realistically, New Delhi should firm up Safeguards Agreement with IAEA and seek waiver from NSG by May to give the Congress time to have a final vote on the agreement.

Asked whether he was optimistic, he replied in the affirmative. "We can make that happen," he said.

To a question about opposition by political parties to the deal, Boucher said the US "understands" such processes which are normal in democracies and it was for the government here to see how to "overcome" these as there is not much time.

On the status of India-IAEA talks, he said New Delhi had conveyed that it will communicate to Washington when the agreement is finalised. He assumed that it will take up to two weeks to conclude the agreement.

Maintaining that the nuclear deal is good for India as well as the US, Boucher said the government here realises it and was keen to push it.

When referred to the opposition to the deal here, he said the US "understands the political realities" in India but there was need to "understand the political realities" of his country as well.

"We deal with the government that is in place. It is for the governments to handle their own politics domestically," he said adding it was for the UPA government to take care of political considerations within the country.

Observing that the clearance from the NSG would take couple of weeks, he expressed confidence that the 45-nation grouping will grant waiver in favour of India as the nuclear deal is "good for non-proliferation."

He said there would "legitimate questions" from various countries over the non-proliferation issues but there will be equally "good answers" to these.

"We have to work hard with countries...In the end everybody will find it beneficial," he said.

The US official refused to speculate on what stance China would take at the NSG.

Asked whether the Hyde Act would have any implications on Indo-US nuclear cooperation, Boucher said it was a "domestic legislation which determines what we can do."

Pointing out that Hyde Act is an enabling legislation, he said its "main function is to allow this kind of cooperation (with India)... The fundamental purpose of Hyde Act is to allow us to conclude the arrangement that we have finalised and that is what we are doing."