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One year of nuclear deal: Bush allays India's fears
Bush also "assures" Manmohan he will ensure that there are "no shifting goal posts", reports Nilova R Chaudhury.
US President George Bush assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday that he would personally speak with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to completely curb the infrastructure of terror in Pakistan.
At a bilateral meeting between them before the G-8 summit with five outreach nations (and leaders of the African Union and the Confederation of Independent States -- CIS -- and multilateral bodies like the United Nations and the European Union), Bush again condemned the "outrageous and horrible" attacks in Mumbai and Srinagar, and assured Singh of his "firm commitment" to fight unitedly against terrorism, senior officials said. He had, in fact, urged the leaders to send a strong message from the summit with the hard-hitting statement condemning terrorist attacks.
Bush also "assured" Singh during their 40 minute-long exchange that the US administration was fully aware of Indian 'concerns' about parts of the legislation on bilateral civil nuclear cooperation that had been passed by both Houses of Congress in their 'mark up' votes, and would ensure that there were "no shifting goal posts, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said. Bush was "optimistic" that the legislation was likely to pass muster in the full floor votes "within the next few weeks," Saran said, but the bilateral 123 agreement would not go beyond commitments of the July 18, 2005 Joint Statement and the Indian Separation Plan.
India has raised concerns about various provisions outlined in the legislation at the US Houses of Congress, specifically about access to reprocessing and enrichment technologies, end-use verification procedures, the safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Iran nuclear problem.
Bush, however, was "frustrated"at the "lack of flexibility" on reaching an agreement on the Doha Round of WTO talks, Saran said, as they reviewed the progress of bilateral initiatives, like the Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture and economic relations, since Bush's visit to India in March.
