NEW DELHI, Oct 30: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Tuesday his country’s controversial nuclear deal with the United States had been delayed but was not dead.

“There is some delay but we have not reached the end of the road,” Mr Singh told a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in New Delhi.

Leftist parties have threatened to withdraw support for Singh’s ruling coalition if the nuclear deal went ahead, which could lead to the fall of the Congress-led government.

Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had said in Delhi that Indian approval of the nuclear energy deal with the United States would be seen positively by global business,

“I believe it would be perceived positively by the global business community if it goes through,” Paulson told journalists accompanying him on his four-day visit to India.

He would not be drawn on whether business would view it negatively if the deal did not go ahead.

Earlier in the day, Paulson said Washington valued the fact that India was a vibrant democracy and said democratic processes needed to work for the country to come to a conclusion on the nuclear deal.—Reuters