The 123 talks did not go well

Reuters reports Nicholas Burns -- the American Under Secretary of State and the Bush administration’s point man in its nuclear dealings with India -- sounding less than enthusiastic about the last round of bilateral talks on the so-called ‘123 Agreement’, the bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation agreement that the two sides must sign and implement in order to consummate their landmark July 2005 deal.

"We were hopeful that we would be able to make progress to close out all of the issues on the 123 (agreement) talks. Some progress was made but in our view, not enough."…

"The United States has done its part. We've met every commitment we said we would meet. ... Right now I would say the ball is in India's court." …

"Frankly, we negotiated two very good agreements in July '05 and March '06 with the Indian government. ... Now it's time for India to expedite the 123 talks as well as expedite talks with the IAEA towards a safeguards agreement."

The Indian side had presented its draft of the 123 to Washington in early February, which the Bush administration clearly didn’t like. But given the perception in New Delhi is that it is the U.S. which has moved the goalposts since July 2005, Indian negotiators are not likely to take too kindly to Burns’s suggestion that it is India which is not fulfilling its commitments.