India rolls out red carpet as Bush arrives in Delhi

Setting aside protocol, Manmohan Singh personally received the US President at Palam airport. In pics: Bush in India

US President George W Bush finally arrived in India and brought with him plenty of hopes of finalising the nuclear deal.

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He is accompanied by First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur were personally present to welcome the guests.

Along with them, Indian Ambassador to US Ronen Sen, US Ambassador to India David C Mulford, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and Science Minister Kapil Sibal were also present.

The two leaders had an animated conversation after which Bush was led to a convoy that took him to Hotel Maurya Sheraton. The President did not make any arrival statement.

Bush's official engagements will begin from Thursday after a ceremonial welcome by President Abdul Kalam at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

As interlocutors from both sides made last minute efforts to seal the landmark nuclear pact reached last July, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs met under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister and is understood to have discussed the broad parameters of a possible deal that could be concluded during the visit.

"Our people are speaking to India from the plane about trying to come to a civilian power agreement," he said at a press conference in Kabul.

"It is a difficult issue for the Indian Government. It is a difficult issue for the American Government. So, we continue to dialogue and work and hopefully we can reach an agreement. If not, we will continue to work on that until we do," he said.

He said "it is in the interest of the US and in the interest of the world that India develops a nuclear power industry".

Contending that the US relationship with India was "broader than our discussions about energy", he said "ours is a strategic relationship. It is a relationship that's got strong ties because of economics and our military, and our desire to help democracies such as Afghanistan."

The President's National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, also part of the Presidential delegation, brushed aside criticism that the civilian nuclear arrangement with India has been so designed so as to go around the non-proliferation treaty and frameworks as some critics have argued.

"It is just the opposite. This is actually a way to bring India within the Non-Proliferation framework. It will be adopting the kind of Non-Proliferation protections that we do. It's to bring India on the same page as we are, so they can be a global partner.