NEW DELHI, July 5 (Reuters) - A key regional party in India said on Saturday it backed the government over a controversial nuclear energy agreement with the United States, easing concerns the pact could trigger early elections.

"The deal is in the interest of the nation, we should have come out in support of the deal a year ago," Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Amar Singh told reporters in New Delhi.

Support from the SP is likely to help the Congress Party-led government secure a parliamentary majority if its communist parties carry out their threat to withdraw support in protest at the nuclear deal. "We will not vote against the government, even if the communists and other parties do," Singh added. (Reporting by Bappa Majumdar)

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