A senior American official has urged India to move quickly to wrap up a civilian nuclear deal with the United States. The request comes as India's prime minister says his government is trying to build a political consensus on the controversial agreement, which is strongly opposed by his communist allies.

美國一位高級官員敦促印度迅速采取行動，和美國敲定一筆民用核交易。印度總理說，印度政府正努力就這項有爭議的交易取得政治共識，而這項交易受到他的共產黨盟友的強烈反對。

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher says the civilian nuclear deal between India and the United States faces a lot of "tight deadlines."

美國助理國務卿包潤石說，印度與美國的這筆民用核交易面臨著很多“緊迫的最后期限”。

Boucher spoke to reporters Wednesday in New Delhi, where he has met Indian officials.

包潤石星期三在新德里發表以上講話。他在新德里會晤了印度官員。

The deal will allow New Delhi to get access to civilian nuclear technology, even though it has not signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

如果雙方達成協議，盡管印度沒有簽署核不擴散條約，也仍然可以獲得民用核技術。

The pact still needs to get the final approval of the U.S. Congress. Before that happens, India has to conclude an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and obtain a waiver from the 45-nation Nuclear Supplier Group, which regulates global civilian nuclear trade.

這筆交易還需要得到美國國會的最終批準。在此之前，印度必須與國際原子能機構達成協議，并取得核供應國集團45個成員國的同意。核供應國集團負責協調管理全球的民用核交易。

Boucher says all these steps need to be completed quickly so that the pact can be presented to the U.S. Congress by July, ahead of the American presidential elections.

包潤石說，所有這些步驟都要迅速完成，才能趕在美國總統選舉之前，于7月把這筆交易提交美國國會。

"You start adding these things up and we are kind of playing on overtime right now. There is an awful lot of work to do and not a lot of time. So, I think everybody understands that reality and, as I said, as soon as the Indian government is ready to go ahead, we are too," Boucher said.

他說：“很多工作擺在面前，而我們現在已經有些滯后了。工作很多，但是時間卻不多。所以我認為大家都了解這個現實。只要印度政府做好準備，我們也做好了準備。”

The deal has been held up by domestic politics in India. The Indian government's Communist allies strongly oppose the agreement because they feel it undermines India's sovereignty and have warned the government not to go ahead with it.

這項協議的進展受到印度國內政治的拖延。印度政府中聯合政黨的共產黨強烈反對這項協議。他們認為這將損害印度主權，并警告政府不要簽署這項協議。

However, the government is holding talks with the IAEA and says it remains committed to sealing the nuclear agreement with Washington.

印度政府正在和國際原子能機構舉行談判，而且表示印度仍然致力于跟美國簽署這一核協議。

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told parliament Wednesday his government is trying to bring around its allies.

印度總理辛格星期三對議會說，印度正在試圖說服持印度共產黨。

"We also continue to seek the broadest possible consensus within the country to enable the next step to be taken," Singh said. I believe such cooperation is good for us, for our energy security and for the world.

他說：“我們還在繼續尋求在國內形成最大的共識，以便采取下一步的進程。這種合作對我們是有利的，對我們的能源安全有利，對世界有利。”

But it remains unclear how Prime Minister Singh will overcome opposition from his Communist allies, who have repeatedly threatened to withdraw support for the government if it goes ahead with the nuclear deal.

可是現在仍然不清楚辛格總理將采取何種辦法說服共產黨聯盟轉變立場。印度共產黨反復威脅說，如果印度政府簽署這項核協議，他們就不再支持政府。