``The CTBT endgame has begun. We envisage the Indo-US dialogue now as a two-step process: first, a commitment on India's part not to stand in the way of the treaty entering into force by September 1999, which the PM made at the UN. Second, we want the US to first ratify before we sign,'' sources here said.

(Defence Minister George Fernandes, meanwhile, today denied there was any ``private deal'' between the US and India on signing the CTBT, says PTI. ``There cannot be any kind of a private deal... It is a national issue. I believe that until Parliament clears this thing, there is no question of signing it,'' Fernandes said in a special discussion on Doordarshan's Metro channel.

(Asked whether Vajpayee in his UN speech had made a clear commitment, a conditional commitment or merely a statement of intent to sign theCTBT, Fernandes said, ``I would consider that as a statement of intent, nothing more'').

New Delhi's position is significant in the wake of the US economic sanctions lifted against India and Pakistan last week. It seeks to put the onus on ``normalising relations'' between the two countries on the US, which had severely criticised India for its nuclear tests.

As both sides prepare for the next and fifth round of the bilateral dialogue sometime next month, New Delhi is of the view that the removal of economic sanctions was an ``inevitable event'' and does not, therefore, require a quid pro quo from India.

Similarly, US feelers to improve operational ties (for example, invitations to the Army and Navy commanders) are only ``natural'' and must be placed in the perspective of the ``overall'' defence relationship, the sources said.

The government's position may be attributed to domestic reasons (the BJP is fighting elections next month and cannot afford to be seen to be ``soft'' on the US), but notentirely. New Delhi still recoils from the severely critical language used by Washington over its tests.

As a result, the next round of the dialogue is bound to be interesting, as much for the kind of bargaining and negotiation that it invokes. The US foreign office wants New Delhi to first sign the CTBT before any real engagement is possible. Washington wants to present India's signature on the Treaty to its own Congress so as to induce the Opposition Republican-dominated Senate to ratify it.

``The political fight over the CTBT ratification is a real one,'' said analysts. ``The Democrats want it ratified, but the Republican party which controls the Senate, is citing security reasons and holding out. The Clinton government, thus, wants India's signature on the deal to persuade the Republicans to ratify.''

A team of US non-proliferation experts is expected here in early November, to push discussions for talks later in the month between the Prime Minister's key aide Jaswant Singh and US deputy secretaryof state Strobe Talbott.

New Delhi is currently debating a proposal from Washington which suggests that the talks be held in Italy, presumably because Talbott is travelling around the time in Europe. But one view is that since this is a ``Indo-US dialogue'', discussions should be held in either of the two capitals.