NEW DELHI, Oct. 12 — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, having forcefully staked his legacy on a landmark nuclear agreement with the United States, made it plain on Friday that his government would not confront its Communist allies over their opposition to the deal and invite early elections.

"What we have done with the United States — it is an honorable deal, it is good for India, it is good for the world," he said at a conference here. "I do attach importance in seeing this deal come through, but if it doesn't come through that is not the end of life."

In recent weeks, the government's Communist allies have been vaguely threatening "serious consequences" if Mr. Singh's cabinet advances its nuclear negotiations before Parliamentary debate.

The Communists contend that the nuclear deal, widely described as a centerpiece of radical new relationship between Washington and New Delhi, would make India subservient to American interests in Asia.

Without the Communists' support, the Congress Party-led coalition government cannot maintain its majority in Parliament.

The saber-rattling prompted Mr. Singh and the chairwoman of the ruling Congress Party, Sonia Gandhi, to suggest that they were prepared for early elections.

But that stance seems to have been tempered in recent days, as several politicians in the ruling coalition, perhaps staring into the abyss of early electioneering, dismissed the prospects of elections anytime soon. Today, the prime minister echoed their sentiments.

"This government still has one-and-a-half years to complete its time," he said. "It is my hope and expectation that we will stay the course." Ms. Gandhi, who spoke after Mr. Singhim at the same conference, sponsored by The Hindustan Times newspaper, agreed that she preferred to complete the government's five-year term, through the spring of 2009, rather than take on her allies and go to the polls sooner. "We are not in favor of early elections," she said.

The prime minister's remarks are likely to come as a disappointment to United States officials who would prefer a swift culmination of the nuclear negotiations. Under the agreement, initiated by the Bush administration and tentatively approved by Congress this year, India would be able to buy nuclear fuel and technology to boost nuclear energy production, so long as it sequesters its military arsenal.

India still has important steps to complete. It must negotiate a separate agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and garner the blessings of the 45-member nation Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The head of the atomic agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, in India this week, expressed strong support for the accord.