NEWS

Dr Singh meets President Bush

By V Mohan Narayan/PTI in St Petersburg
July 17, 2006

"Nothing earthshaking" was one senior analyst's verdict on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's 45-minute meeting with United States President George W Bush on Monday morning.

The prime minister voiced India's concern to President Bush over aspects of the legislation in the US Congress on the India-US civil nuclear cooperation.

The two leaders met at the Konstantinovsky Palace on the sidelines of the G-8 summit in St Petersburg.

The prime minister was accompanied by National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, the only two senior officials accompanying Dr Singh on his journey to the G8 summit in Russia.

Dr Singh and President Bush met for the first time after the American leader's visit to India in March, and came a day short of their historic meeting in Washington, DC last July 18.

The two leaders also reviewed developments in the India-US relationship since Bush's visit to India, officials said.

On Sunday Dr Singh told the media team accompanying him that the legislation, which comes up for vote in the two Houses of the US Congress -- the House of Representatives and the Senate -- in a few weeks' time would feature during his meeting with President Bush.

On his arrival in St Petersburg on Sunday, the prime minister said he would impress upon the G8 leaders that the international community must adopt an approach of 'zero tolerance' for terrorism anywhere.

"The international community must isolate and condemn terrorism wherever they attack, whatever their cause and whichever country or group provides them sustenance and support," he said.

Dr Singh will also take part in a tripartite meeting involving Russian President Vladmir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The meeting will focus on the possibilities of cooperative efforts to deal with issues like terrorism, energy security and related issues.

Dr Singh will also meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Additional inputs: Archana Masih/rediff

V Mohan Narayan/PTI in St Petersburg

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