NEWS

Prime minister to meet Bush on Monday

By Archana Masih on board AI 001
July 16, 2006 19:02 IST
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet United States President George W Bush in St Petersburg on Monday.

The meeting will take place a day short of their historic encounter in Washington, DC last year where the two leaders signed an accord on civilian nuclear cooperation.

The nuclear process with America, Dr Singh told reporters aboard AI001, the Air India special flight taking him to the G8 summit, will move forward after the US Congress passes the legislation needed to amend American law and enable the India-US agreement to become a reality.

Once that happens, the prime minister said, India will take the issue to the

Nuclear Suppliers Group where it expects the support of the US, Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

The prime minister said he would discuss with Preident Bush the progress on the legislation pending approval by both Houses of the US Congress -- the 425-member House of Representatives and the 100-member Senate -- and the concerns India had on certain aspects of the legislation, which have already been conveyed to the US side.

The prime minister will use his meetings with Bush, Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday to sensitise the international community to the challenges of terrorism that India confronts.

Archana Masih on board AI 001

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