New Delhi, Feb. 18: Delhi should wrap up its nuclear deal with the US as soon as possible, key government negotiator Shyam Saran said here today.

Any delay would mean that the “political uncertainty” around the issue would worsen and the “supportive international environment” could also change, Saran, the Prime Minister’s special envoy on the deal, said.

“The sooner we wrap up the deal, the better it will be,” he said when asked if Delhi shared the US perception that time was running out for the deal.

In Bangalore, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar too said India hoped to finish the job as soon as it could but cautioned that complex issues “take time”.

Kakodkar said a safeguards agreement was being negotiated with the International Atomic Energy Agency for the “first time”.

“There are complex issues. You have to deal with them one by one. It will take time. But it’s moving forward. We hope to do it as soon as possible,” PTI quoted him as saying.

Saran, who was at the India International Centre to speak on “India and the Global Nuclear Domain”, said: “While there is no calendar deadline to the passage of the deal, the level of political uncertainty will keep increasing as time passes by.”

“(Also) the international environment may not be as propitious for India as it has been for the past few years,” he added in an apparent reference to the country’s growing global profile spurred by its economic growth.

Without taking names, the former foreign secretary sought to correct the “mistaken impression” that the deal’s objective was to become America’s partner.

“Our objective is to allow India a choice of multiple partners in the civil nuclear area. We are not only looking at the US… but also at other countries,” Saran said.

“Russia and France are also our friends. However, no other country except the US has the standing to open the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) regime for India.”