WASHINGTON, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The United States said Wednesday that it is still committed to the civil nuclear cooperation deal with India and will push for its approval by the Congress.

    "We are committed to this deal," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

    "If the Indian government completes a lot of the discussions it has been having about moving forward on a variety of different fronts regarding this deal, the U.S. government is committed to doing whatever it can to fulfill its commitments here domestically," McCormack said.

    The Bush administration has been in close contact with key members of the Democrats-controlled Congress in terms of this issue, McCormack said.

    According to a report by the Washington Post on Wednesday, the nuclear deal is unlikely to win approval from the Congress this year, and India could begin nuclear trade with other countries even without the nuclear deal with the United States.

    The United States and India reached a historic agreement on civil nuclear cooperation in March 2006, under which India will get access to U.S. civil nuclear technology, and open its nuclear facilities for inspection. However, the nuclear deal has met with strong opposition in both India and the United States.