PM (India) meets Bush; no signing of N-deal

[OhioChick]

Source: Times of India

26 Sep 2008, 0322 hrs IST,PTI

WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met US President George W Bush on Thursday but the two were not in a position to sign the Indo-US nuclear deal with the Congressional nod still eluding.

Singh flew in from New York for the meeting with Bush with expectations in the Indian side that the Congress would have completed the business of legislating on the deal the two leaders entered into in July, 2005.

The meeting slated for 5.10 pm local time (2.40 am IST) started 20 minutes late as Bush was engaged in talks with presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on the financial crisis in the US.

After a lot of drama and suspense, Congressman Howard Berman, a strong opponent of certain provisions of the deal, introduced a bill which was almost identical to the one that was overwhelmingly adopted by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a rider that all nuclear assistance to India would cease if New Delhi conducts a test.

However, his bill had an extra paragraph that would require that the Senate and the House versions would have to be reconciled in a committee with the involvement of the administration also.

Berman was also persuaded to drop killer amendments including one on Iran that could have sabotaged the legislation following which he introduced the bill.


Read more: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/PM_meets_Bush_no_signing_of_N-deal/articleshow/3528821.cms

[SpiralHawk]

1. "That's yet another FAIL for me. Smirk." - Commander AWOL (R)