India today ruled out the possibility of setting a time-frame for sealing the nuclear deal with the US, while admitting that some legal constraints and differences were delaying the process.

“There is no road block. Yet, there are certain issues which need to be resolved since we are committed to the Parliament that the agreement will be within the framework of July 18, 2005 agreement and March 6, 2006 separate plan,” External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here on Sunday.

In Shimla, to address the last day of the SAARC parliamentarians’ conference, Mukherjee said: “We are trying to resolve these issues through negotiations. However there is no question of giving any time-frame.”

Replying to questions from journalists, including some from Pakistan, the Minister said security forces had been deployed in Kashmir for law enforcement and restoration of normalcy. “There is no question of demilitarisation when there is no militarisation,” he said.

“A committee has already been set up by the Centre to consider the demand for reduction in troops, and it is doing its job,” he later added.

On the India-Pakistan peace process, Mukherjee said the two countries have made significant progress in the resolution of the issues. “Talks are making steady progress and Kashmir remains one of the important issues in the composite dialogue process. I do hope that we will be able resolve the issue” he added.