BERLIN: Notwithstanding differences on the civil nuclear deal, US President George W Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday expressed their commitment to put in place soon a "mutually acceptable" agreement to implement it.
The commitment of the two leaders came during a ten-minute "pull-aside" meeting at the German sea resort of Heilligendamm as senior officials of the two countries deliberated on a fresh proposal by India to have a dedicated safeguarded facility for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in a bid to break the impasse. "We think it is doable.
We hope to do that (reach an agreement) soon," Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon told reporters after the meeting on the sidelines of the G-8 meeting with leaders of the five outreach countries including India and China. India’s offer of a dedicated facility to store spent fuel under IAEA safeguards is expected to largely address US apprehensions of the material being diverted for making bombs.
New Delhi has been insisting on the right to reprocess spent fuel but Washington cites its legal constraint in accepting the plea. National Security Adviser M K Narayanan had a separate meeting with his US counterpart Stephen Hadley during which the fresh Indian proposal of setting up a dedicated national facility for reprocessing spent fuel came up. Menon said the entire range of bilateral issues were covered at the Bush-Singh meeting and this included the nuclear issue.
Asked whether Indian expectations from the meeting were met, Menon said "We expected a short meeting. This is not a forum for formal negotiations." "Both expressed satisfaction at the state of relations. They talked about issues in the relations and how to carry it forward. Both said they looked forward to seeing this transformed relationship which we enjoy today to be taken further forward in various aspects," Menon said.
The Prime Minister also inquired about Bush’s health after he suffered a stomach ailment to which the U.S leader said he had a digestive problem. "How is your health?" Singh asked Bush who had skipped the morning session dealing with Africa due to stomach ailment. "I had some digestive problem and now I am fine," responded Bush.
During his day’s hectic schedule, Singh met British Prime Minister Tony Blair, new French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Making a forceful intervention at the meeting of leaders of G-8 countries with the G-5, Singh underlined the need to deal with the issue of climate change in an equitable manner and under the framework of the UN Convention on Climate Change.
The Prime Minister made it clear that adaptation should take place and not just mitigation. "We have a primary responsibility for development," he told the meeting adding "we are willing to play our role".
Print
Tell friend
Top
