The two sides, led by the Prime Minister's key aide Jaswant Singh and US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott – who arrived here tonight – will get down tomorrow to a spot of ``hard bargaining'' to establish the contours of a bilateral deal.

Highly placed diplomats in the Capital said such a bilateral deal will in turn stimulate the other permanent-five nations, such as France and Russia, to initiate similar bilateral agreements on greater access to high technology, especially in the civilian nuclear power sector. Britain will follow where the US leads, the diplomats added.

The key to tomorrow's talks will be a bargain that is structured incrementally: New Delhi is likely to say at the end of this round that it is readyto sign the CTBT, but needs a face-saver to sell to critical, domestic audiences.

Such face-saving offers could take the form of access to so-far restricted technology. New Delhi may point out that India and France are already ``working very closely'' on civilian nuclear energy issues. The second step in the two-step Indo-US bargain is India's ratification of the Treaty. If New Delhi feels Washington has not kept enough to its side of the deal, it could even later throw in the towel, by threatening not to ratify.

The ace in India's hand is the fact that US President Bill Clinton wants to go down in history as the man who made the CTBT possible -- and that the signatures of New Delhi and Islamabad are essential before the Treaty can enter into force. Tomorrow's talks, then, will be structured around more basic issues: The nuclear-missile question, an ``understanding'' of India's security perceptions, including China, the South Asian situation, especially Pakistan and freer economic ties. A fourth roundbetween Singh and Talbott will take place some time in August, probably in Washington, sources said. That is when the ``deal'' will become much more apparent, they added.

Citing security considerations, New Delhi will also insist on the freedom to continue testing its missiles - something the US administration says it ``can live with'' as long as India does not ``induct'' or ``deploy'' them. New Delhi's compromise could be in the detail: Testing missiles of only a limited range, such as up to 5,000-odd km (a distance which incorporates China but not the US) and a promise not to either ``deploy'' or ``induct.''

China will also form a significant part of the Indo-US dialogue. Despite the current love-affair with Beijing, senior US officials have explained to recently visiting Indian businessmen that the ``embracing of China could be seen in terms of a containment of China,'' and that only India could provide the ``balance of power'' in this region. On Pakistan, the government, especially Home MinisterAdvani, will point out the support to terrorism in Kashmir from across the border and Islamabad's insistence on linking every aspect of the Indo-Pakistani dialogue to a resolution first of the Kashmir issue. India will also stress the need for enhanced economic interaction as a key integral of the overall relationship. But unlike Pakistan, New Delhi seems happy with the suggestion that the lifting of economic sanctions are an incremental and additional function, not the basic measure of the relationship. The underlying message of the talks, on New Delhi's part, remains: even though India is not a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, ``the reality is that we are a nuclear weapons power,'' government sources said.

Pak goes soft

Barely a couple of days before the visit of an American envoy to discuss non-proliferation issues, Pakistan has indicated softening of its stand on the crucial subject of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, delinking signing of the treaty with the Indian position andthe Kashmir imbroglio. ``We do not have a rigid position on this issue,'' Tariq Altaf, spokesman for the Pakistani foreign office said here on Saturday.