National Security Advisor M K Narayanan has said that a lack of consensus in the country is holding up the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.“The absence of a consensus within the country has been a major handicap. It has put matters on hold and needs a resolution earlier than later,” said Narayanan, adding that the safeguards agreement with IAEA and clearance from the Nuclear Suppliers Group is essential to enter the nuclear mainstream.He also said that fears of the deal compromising India’s strategic program were unfounded. “The civil nuclear cooperation has nothing to do with India’s strategic nuclear weapons programme,” he said.
