While US Ambassador to India David C Mulford said that there was a “high probability” of the deal being signed during Rice’s visit to India, sources confirmed that the agreement would indeed be signed on October 4.

Mukherjee is currently in the US and will be returning on Friday. It is learnt that India’s ambassador to US, Ronen Sen, who played a key role in the entire process is also expected to be present when the deal would be signed.

While a formal announcement is expected on Friday, the MEA’s protocol division has already been alerted about the forthcoming event.

Amid the euphoria over the nuclear deal being passed by the US Senate, Mulford made it clear that not “every single commitment” in the 123 agreement is binding and the US government “cannot compel” American companies to offer technology or supply fuel or compel other governments to do things in a particular way.

“In the 123 agreement, which is going to be a law, not every single commitment is binding because that can’t be,” Mulford said in a media interaction at the Roosevelt House in New Delhi, hours after the deal got the US Congress’s nod.

He said, “The commitments under the 123 agreement have been preserved in the Congressional process as no amendments have been made to its content.”

The envoy said the commitments in the agreement are “Presidential commitments” and will be “faithfully honoured”.

When referred to the riders sought to be attached to the nuclear deal, Mulford said, “If you have any specific questions, you should refer to the 123 agreement.”

On the reprocessing issue, Mulford said the 123 agreement has a provision granting upfront reprocessing right to India. “It, however, involves certain procedures and timetable,” he added, referring to the requirement of setting up a dedicated reprocessing facility by India within a year.

On the enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technology, the Ambassador said that the US laws prohibit such transfers to any country, not just India.

“This law may be amended someday but right now it is prohibited,” he noted.

“But India doesn’t need it (enrichment and reprocessing technology). It has its own expertise,” he said.

Pointing out that the US is in favour of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) putting a prohibition on transfer of ENR globally, he said there is a move afoot in the 45-nation grouping, but no consensus on this has been achieved so far.

“This is a very good day. It’s historic for both countries. It’s a major agreement that will change the relationship between the world’s major democracies,” the US envoy said, and lauded the vision of both US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for this path-breaking nuclear entente between the two countries.

He underlined that the US Congress, despite facing the worst financial crisis in the past 75 years, found time to pass the legislation and voted is India’s favour. “The US President, in the midst of a political maelstrom and financial crisis, found time to push the deal through the Congress,” Mulford said.

He also stressed that the nuclear deal was driven not by commercial interests, but by the larger vision of making India a world power. “This was driven by a vision to restore India, home to one-fifth of humanity, to the world. The US wishes to assist India in becoming a major power,” the envoy said.

He, however, admitted that the economic potential of the deal was enormous for the US economy as it will lead to large-scale investment and generation of employment in the US. “We expect to become a major player in the development of civil nuclear industry in India. We have to be competitive to win business,” he said.