India is ''pretty close'' to the finalisation of the civilian nuclear agreement with the US even though both countries have not ''quite arrived'' at the destination, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said Monday evening.
''While we have not quite arrived at the destination, we are pretty close to it,'' the foreign secretary said at a book release function.
Nuclear deal not ruled out before Bush visit: Mulford
He, however, said it was not important for India to look at nuclear energy alone in the context of Indo-US relations but access to a whole range of technologies had to be considered if the high economic growth is to be maintained.
Two days ahead of US President George Bush's visit to India, Saran said there were certain convergences on how the two countries viewed the future -- knowledge and access to technologies.
''There is a recognition in the US that we can work together...that we are both democratic societies, does bring about unanimity,'' he said.
The book Impossible Allies: Nuclear India, United States and the Global Order is written by noted journalist C Raja Mohan.
Asserting that Indo-US relations were evolving during the past couple of years, Saran said there was now a recognition that India was a major player in the global arena.
It was a tribute to the ''tremendous economic advancement'' and also to India's scientific community, particularly nuclear scientists.
''It would be fair to say that where we are today, is because of our scientific community... where we are today speaks volumes of India's scientific community. Where we stand today, is a reversal of where we were in 1998,'' he said.
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History in the making: The Bush Visit
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