After burning the midnight oil, tying the loose ends in the nuclear civilian nuclear pact, Indian Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh and US President George W Bush signed the much-awaited nuclear pact.
The deal was the centerpiece of President George W Bush’s first visit to India. “The deal . is done The details are being worked out and the exact language and formulation (of the deal) will be in the joint statement,” National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said after the talks between the two leaders. With the Government set to fast-forward implementation of the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh has held talks with world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is the chair of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), apparently to garner support. Besides Merkel, Singh held telephonic conversations with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose countries are key members of the 45-nation NSG. During the talks, Singh is understood to have sought their support for India’s case in the NSG, which has to give a waiver to allow New Delhi to have civil nuclear cooperation with the international community. Racing against time to operationally the nuclear deal with the US, India is seeking an early meeting of the NSG so that its case can be taken up and cleared. In this regard, Germany will play a key role. The Government has already started sending its ministers and some senior officials to various NSG countries to muster support.