The civil nuclear deal between India and the United States has not been put in cold storage and is definitely in the offing, the Congress asserted on Wednesday.

The Congress made the assertion five days after both Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi had indicated in a public function that the 123 Agreement had been put off in the face of intense opposition from UPA’s outside allies, mainly the Left.

“It is not in cold storage. We are pursuing the deal and discussing it with the Left and aiming to narrow the differences. The deal has not been put off. It is very much in the offing,” AICC spokesperson and Union Minister Shakeel Ahmed said here. “Of course, there are difficulties, but it does not mean the deal is on hold,” he said, stressing that all ruling alliance parties were firmly with the Prime Minister on the issue.

Responding to queries regarding speculations about the Prime Minister’s frustration about the way things were going, Mr Ahmed said, “The Prime Minister has confidence in all the allies. There is no question of his resigning. He is as powerful as he was.”

Meanwhile, highly-placed government sources admitted that the government might have been caught “slightly off guard” by the Left on the issue. “We were not expecting the Left to take such a stance as the PM had delivered on every promise he had made on the floor of Parliament on August, 2006,” the sources said.