Terming the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as a sign of  'renewed partnership' between the two countries, a senior Defence Ministry official said on Friday that this has removed all scepticism about the issue.

"The significant agreement that US President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] signed on Thursday has removed suspicion from the minds of sceptics in US and has sent out a message that we mean business," K P Singh, Secretary, Defence Production said at a conference on Indo-US Economic Cooperation.

He said the deal will have greater significance in the long run and hoped that the two countries would ink an agreement on Intellectual Property Rights in the near future.

• The Singh-Bush joint statement

"I hope they have an agreement on IPRs too, so that the technologies we build do not get passed on to somebody whom we don't want," he said.

"We have never seen India [Images] doing anything that can be called foul in the global context. We have always stuck to the rule book," he said, adding, "I request the American delegates to take this message to your licencing authorities so that whenever there is a bidding opportunity here, you can participate."

Speaking on the occasion, senior vice-president of International US Chamber of Commerce, Dan Christman said, "The landmark agreement reached on Thursday will enable the two countries to cooperate and participate in sharing technologies for various causes, including environment, human rights, global stability and peace."

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