ElBaradei's visit to India does not officially have a political mandate. But it was expected he would unofficially raise the question during meetings with government officials of how the United Nations might monitor India's nuclear power stations.

India has been developing its nuclear programme since the early 1970s. It initially received foreign support but when Western governments discovered their help was contributing to the development nuclear weapons too, they promptly stopped their deliveries and imposed sanctions on India. The Soviet Union then took their place as chief trading partner.

According to the estimates of US experts, India now has forty to fifty operative nuclear warheads. Others say there could be more than 100.

False signals

The deal with the US would, from next year on, give India access to western nuclear technology and lift all the current sanctions. But critics of the deal say that it sends out the wrong signals to countries such as Iran, or until recently North Korea. Because India is not about to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

But Indian security expert Bharat Karnad said the country should be judged by its behaviour and not by its non-signature: "In 1979, Libya offered us eight billion dollars for one nuclear device. But the point is we haven't done it. We're being asked to uphold a system that has victimised us continuously -- for fifty years we have suffered it. And you expect that we'll continue to be boy scouts (...). It's got to stop some time."

Fear of dependency on US

India wants to meet a quarter of its electricity demand with nuclear energy from 2050 on. The government hopes to become less dependent on raw material imports. But India's left parties fear the deal will make the country too dependent on the US instead. They are threatening to withdraw their support from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government.

Foreign Minister Mukherjee has rejected their reproaches: "We are improving our relationship with the US without a doubt. And the strategic partnership is an indication of that. But we must keep in mind that we have this strategic partnership relationship with many other countries including Russia and China. Therefore, this is not some sort of stand-alone relationship between India and the US."

Earlier this week, the government held talks with its allies about the nuclear energy pact. Though there was no sign of compromise, both sides at least agreed to meet again on October 22. Clearly the government realises it has to resolve the domestic differences so the nuclear deal with the US does not fail.