India and the United States have covered crucial ground in the ongoing negotiations on the nuclear deal with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns bringing “fresh ideas” to the table on resolving tricky issues including that of granting India reprocessing rights.

Negotiators on both sides were busy until late tonight trying to come up with language and formulations that could be exchanged formally tomorrow.

Sources said both sides are now closer than before to concluding a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement.

However, officials cautioned that any significant breakthrough would depend on the final round of deliberations tomorrow.

Broadly, India is looking at three commitments from the US in the agreement:

• Should not aim to interfere with India’s strategic programme

• Should not inhibit growth of India’s three-stage programme

• Ensure lifetime fuel supplies to Indian reactors

While Washington has indicated a willingness on the first and the third, the critical issue is the three-stage programme. For, such a commitment links directly with reprocessing rights as the second stage is where the fast-breeder reactors come in and that involves reprocessing spent fuel. Unlike some of the previous technical rounds, sources said, Washington is now more open to discuss the issue.

After the technical deliberations yesterday, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Burns focused on the key issues of difference. A detailed talk on the reprocessing issue is believed to have happened when Burns called on National Security Advisor M K Narayanan. The key US interlocutor on the n-deal also called on External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.