WASHINGTON, Sept 11: The US administration has asked India to begin delivering on its commitment to separate civilian and military nuclear facilities as agreed to in a joint Indo-US statement, diplomatic sources told Dawn on Sunday.

The statement, issued during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the White House on July 18, pledges US support to making India a major world power and also promises to provide civilian nuclear technology to New Delhi.

The facilities that are marked as civilian will be open to international inspection and be required to observe all international safeguards.

Earlier last week week, the US Congress held the first of a series of hearing on the proposed deal, urging India to support US policies on major issues if it wants access to American nuclear technology.

While mounting pressure on India on the diplomatic front on issues like Iran and Iraq, the US administration is also asking New Delhi to fulfil other promises it made in the joint statement, the sources said.

Washington is believed to have told the Indians that they have already done their part of the deal, such as lobbying for India’s participation in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor project and completing the ‘Next Steps in Strategic Partnership’, and now it was India’s turn to keep its end of the bargain.

As part of its strategic partnership deal, the US department of commerce has already removed three subordinate entities of the Indian Space Research Organization and three entities of the Department of Atomic Energy from a list of companies that were banned from receiving US assistance.

The US demand assumed a new urgency after a senior Indian official, the Atomic Energy Commission chief’s Anil Kakodkar, said last week that the segregation of civil and defence nuclear facilities will be undertaken in a phased manner over a period of time.

Responding to Mr Kakodkar’s remarks, US Ambassador to India David Mulford reminded New Delhi that India had already agreed to separate its civil and military nuclear facilities when it signed the nuclear collaboration agreement in Washington on July 18.

He also urged Indian officials to ‘avoid statements that make things difficult’.

The US administration believes that by separating its civilian and military nuclear facilities, India could boost its effort to get congressional endorsement for the proposed Indo-US nuclear deal.

Administration sources told Dawn that Washington wants ‘some tangible Results’ on this issue before President George Bush visits India next year.

Diplomatic observers in Washington also noted that the Bush administration was not satisfied with the progress made so far.

They point out that instead of implementing the agreement reached in Washington, India has tried to skirt the issue by keeping few facilities in the civilian category.

The administration fears that the Indian approach could hurt its efforts to get congressional approval for the deal.

Congressional observers in Washington point out that while the administration has enough support in both the houses to push the proposed deal through, the lawmakers could make attaching amendments that could make it difficult to implement the accord.

During his July visit to the White House, the Indian prime minister had confirmed that New Delhi would reciprocally agree to identify and separate civilian and military nuclear facilities and programmes in a phased manner.

During the congressional hearing, both US officials and lawmakers stressed that they want to ensure that the proposed nuclear deal with India will not weaken US commitment to non-proliferation.

Some lawmakers felt that making an exception for India, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, might set a precedent for other countries to seek similar access to nuclear technology.