Bush assures PM over N-deal commitments

In a significant statement assuaging Indian concerns that Washington was shifting goalposts in the nuclear deal, President George W Bush today assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that US would not go "beyond" the reciprocal commitments reached last July.

During a 30-minute meeting with Singh at the high security Konstantinovsky Palace complex, Bush expressed optimism that the deal would go through with the US Congress finalising the requisite legislation in the next few weeks.

Keen to see the early conclusion of the pathbreaking agreement, Singh conveyed New Delhi's concerns over the proposed American legislation granting waivers for nuclear commerce and sought permanent "constructive solutions".

Certain elements in both the Bills passed by the US House of Representatives International Relations Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee appear to go beyond the reciprocal commitments, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told reporters while briefing them on Singh's hectic engagements during the day.

India's reservations in the Senate Bill relate to possible restrictions on reprocessing and enrichment. Absence of clear mention of India-specific Safeguards Agreement in the IAEA was another concern, he said, adding "end-use verification" clause also went beyond the agreement.

It has been conveyed to American interlocutors that the two sides should stay with the parameters of the July 18 agreement, he said. "There are some concerns which worry us and our Parliament," Singh told Bush while pointing out that "we are a democracy and we are accountable to Parliament which zealously keeps a watch on what we do and what we do not do".

The Singh-Bush chemistry came to the fore with the US President praising the PM. "It's always a pleasure to be in your company. The PM is one of the really true gentlemen in the international arena. He's got a wonderful heart," Bush said.

The PM had separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. He also joined the first ever trilateral meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Putin during which they expressed their strong interest in the emergence of a multipolar world and multilateralism, Saran said.

He, however, made it clear that the three countries' coming together was in no way directed against any third country. The focus of the discussions was on terrorism, drug trafficking, crime and other challenges confronting these countries, he said.

Foreign ministers of the three countries will meet in India later this year. Their first-ever business summit would also take place in India this year.

At the meeting of the five outreach countries comprising India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico, global challenges, including terrorism figured prominently.