"What I can say about that initiative, which is the civil nuclear arrangement between US and India, is that it's something that we would like very much for our country to be able to enter into agreement with India because we believe that nuclear power is a good thing for the environment and it's a good thing for powering both electricity for homes and for businesses," US Press secretary Dana Perino said.

"A country like India needs to think about how it's going to diversify its resources, not only for how it makes sure that the lights turn on when the kids are at home trying to do their homework, also because they are facing environmental problems," she said.

"This agreement is one that we have done very carefully, through the State Department, and trying to work with India.

We would hope that they would see the benefits in it, and we continue to work with them to try to make it happen," Perino said.

The Spokesperson was asked if the President George W Bush had been in recent touch with the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the matter.