Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] today briefed his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the salient features of the draft Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement reached in Washington, DC, last week.

Vajpayee and his party colleagues Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and former national
security advisor Brajesh Mishra were apprised about the draft agreement after they drove down to the Prime Minister's
residence in New Delhi for a meeting on Thursday morning.

Earlier, the BJP leaders assembled at Vajpayee's residence to discuss the issue. Former deputy prime minister L K Advani did not attend the meetings as he had left for Singapore.

Yesterday, the government approved the draft Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement reached in Washington, DC, last week, saying "all concerns of India have been adequately addressed".

It gave its nod for the 123 agreement to operationalise the nuclear deal, at a joint meeting of the Cabinet Committee
on Political Affairs and the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by the prime minister.

The BJP, which has been opposing the pact, has been demanding the government take the Opposition into confidence on the progress in the agreement.

In a statement on July 6, Vajpayee said no bilateral agreement with the US should be concluded on this issue till Parliament has had a chance to discuss it thoroughly.

"Once the nuclear deal comes into effect, (America's) Hyde Act will ensure that India loses forever its option of conducting a nuclear weapons test, even if any other country tests," the former prime minister had warned.