They were scheduled to end their two-day meeting in Washington on Wednesday but one official said they decided to pore over some "technical issues" on Thursday in a bid to secure an agreement.

"They had a good meeting. They are continuing the discussions tomorrow," said Tom Casey, a State Department spokesman.

The two powers have been for two years trying to devise a comprehensive agreement under which the United States would provide nuclear technology and fuel after agreeing in principle to reverse three decades of sanctions.

Both sides had identified possible solutions to issues blocking the accord, a senior State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"I think they have clearly identified the issues, I think there are certainly possible solutions to both sides," the official said.

Indian embassy spokesman Rahul Chhabra confirmed the talks would continue Thursday but refused to divulge further details.

In an apparent bid to find a breakthrough, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Wednesday with National Security Advisor MK Narayanan and Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who together with Department of Atomic Energy Chairman Anil Kakodkar make up the high-powered Indian delegation.

Narayanan met separately with US National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley at the White House, whose spokesman Tony Snow said the agreement was "very important to us and we want to see it successfully concluded."

"Certainly, there's no time like the present to reach a deal," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

McCormack refused to speak about the issues clouding the deal, saying "this is not an issue in which I do play-by-play analysis."

Under the deal, India is to separate nuclear facilities for civilian and military use and set up a regime of international inspections in return for technology and nuclear fuel supplies.

Despite several rounds of talks, India has stood fast against accepting any curbs on its reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.

India also wants assurances that Washington will continue to supply fuel for its atomic plants in the event New Delhi conducts further nuclear weapons tests.