Dipankar De Sarkar

London, Feb 5 A long-delayed agreement between India and Britain to cooperate on civil nuclear energy is ready for signing after the two sides reached agreement on its text on Thursday, their Commerce Ministers said.

Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his British counterpart Peter Mandelson said after a meeting of their Joint Economic Trade Committee (JETCO) that they hoped the deal would be signed soon.

"The two sides have discussed and initiated a civil nuclear energy cooperation agreement and we hope that will be signed soon," Sharma said.

"I look forward to the U.K. and India signing the civil nuclear cooperation agreement as soon as possible. The text is in place — all it needs is a political signature and that needs to come soon," said Mandelson.

The British minister said the agreement will facilitate greater cooperation in the area of "low-carbon energy solutions", where British companies are world leaders.

"This is a very very significant advance. There is absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be signed next week. It just needs ministerial go-ahead, and it's there, waiting to be signed."

The text of the nuclear deal — the seventh such after agreements with the US, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Argentina and Namibia — had been held up by a disagreement over the wording of the preamble.

Officials in New Delhi said India had objected to the preamble's wording on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). India insisted that the agreement reflect its official position, which calls for a "universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable" treaty.

The treaty is now set to be signed by the Prime Ministers but the date remains uncertain.

Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh is due for a visit to Britain as part of a summit arrangement where the prime ministers of the two countries meet annually, alternately in New Delhi and London.

Gordon Brown visited New Delhi in January last year but dates for Dr. Singh's visit to London have not been finalised, not least because of looming British general elections due by June 3.