The announcement was made today in New Delhi and Frankfurt simultaneously, after Singh and Talbott concluded the second round of their two-day dialogue in Germany.

A State Department official in Washington, commenting on the talks held in four sessions, totalling over eight hours, said they ``covered a range of issues, including non-proliferation and security matters,'' reports PTI.

It is important for both India and the US to ``clearly understand each other's position on this vital issue,'' the official added.

In New Delhi, the foreign office statement said ``both sides have agreed that these useful and constructive contacts will continue. In that context, they also discussed the agenda for Mr Talbott's forthcoming visit to Delhi on July 20-21,'' it said.

It is learntthat India reiterated its stand on its readiness to convert its moratorium on nuclear tests into a legally-binding international commitment and to participate in negotiations aimed at concluding a fissile material cut-off treaty, PTI adds.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister AB Vajpayee today announced in Parliament that India would not succumb to external pressure and give up its nuclear weaponisation programme nor would it unconditionally sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

He also said that Pakistan should join India in signing a treaty on no-first use of nuclear weapons. The time had come for the two countries to urge the nuclear weapons States to evolve a time-bound programme for phasing out of nuclear arsenals, he told the Rajya Sabha.

Replying to a debate on the working of the External Affairs Ministry, Vajpayee said that there was no question of India signing the CTBT in its existing form. ``We have already announced a moratorium on further tests and are prepared to convert it to a de-jureformulation,'' he added.

India, he said, was prepared to participate in the Geneva negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty but made it clear that this would not be from a position of weakness. Vajpayee also claimed that the government had proposed to take the Leader of the Opposition into confidence before taking the decision to conduct the nuclear tests. ``But he was not available,'' he said.

The Prime Minister strongly denied the Opposition charge that there was no consensus in India on foreign policy after the nuclear explosions in Pokharan. He in fact quoted a range of leaders belonging to Opposition to buttress his claim. Vajpayee read out from Chairman Krishan Kant's speech in the House after Pokharan-1 in 1974 where he had welcomed the tests.

He also recalled the late Indira Gandhi's speech, also in 1974, in which she had said that the nuclear test would strengthen India's unity. ``History is now repeating itself,'' he remarked. Vajpayee also quoted from former Prime Minister V PSingh's statement that the nuclear tests should not be underscored.

He went back to Singh's speech in Parliament in 1974 in which he had said that the myth that vital technology was the monopoly of some nations had been exploded after Pokharan-1.

``How relevant these words are today. His reaction is that of a nationalist,'' he exclaimed, asserting that consensus on India's foreign policy had not broken down.

Taking a dig at somemembers who had charged that the tests were conducted when there was a lack of consensus, he said: ``If we ourselves run down our achievements, we can't blame the world .''