India still has issues, Bush told

When US President George W Bush telephoned on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him India still had concerns over the recently enacted US legislation, though many problem areas had been addressed by the President in a statement clarifying that several aspects of the legislation were "advisory" and not binding on his administration.

When US President George W Bush telephoned on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told him India still had concerns over the recently enacted US legislation, though many problem areas had been addressed by the President in a statement clarifying that several aspects of the legislation were "advisory" and not binding on his administration.

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It was the first time the two leaders had spoken after the bilateral civil nuclear cooperation act came into force on Monday.

Days after he signed the Henry J Hyde United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 into law, Bush called to express happiness at the strengthening of bilateral ties, an official statement from the Prime Minister's media advisor Sanjay Baru said.

During the ten-minute conversation, the two leaders expressed the "hope" that India's "remaining concerns would be addressed in the next stage of negotiations," the statement added.

Singh conveyed his concerns, highlighted during debates in Parliament on Monday and Tuesday.

Some of the persisting concerns:

1 Reporting requirements on Iran, which Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said "would not impinge on India."

3 Bill silent on reprocessing of spent fuel

4 Ambiguity on fuel requirements for reactors.
nchoudhury@hindustantimes.com