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 Singh's
speech marks only the eighth time a foreign leader has
addressed members of the Senate and House in the past five
years. Such occasions are typically reserved for the United
States' closest allies.
"The relationship between our two nations has never been
stronger," Bush told Singh on Monday during an elaborate
White House welcome, complete with a fife-and-drum corps in
full Revolutionary-era regalia.
During an Oval Office meeting, the two leaders broke new
ground on nuclear power, with Bush offering U.S. help in
India's civilian nuclear program despite its military nuclear
capabilities and its refusal to sign the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty (search). India remains one of only
four states that have not signed the treaty.
According to a joint statement issued after their meeting,
Bush "stated that as a responsible state with advanced
nuclear technology, India should acquire the same benefits
and advantages as other such states."
India exploded its first nuclear device in 1974. Three more
blasts in 1998 led to sanctions by the United States, Japan
and Germany.
Monday's joint statement committed Bush to work on getting
Congress to approve changes in U.S. law that would allow the
United States to help with India's civilian power program,
including the possibility of supplying fuel for India's
nuclear reactors at Tarapur near Bombay.
"Cleaner energy resources, including nuclear power, are vital
for the future of both our economies," Bush said.
Later, during a luncheon for Singh and his wife, Gursharan
Kaur, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (search) said, "We
welcome India as a global partner, and we look forward to the
continued strengthening of democratic institutions, values
and peace because this partnership will prosper and move
forward."
Singh was honored Monday night with a grand White House
dinner — only the fifth of Bush's presidency and the first
since his re-election.
Already, Singh's responses to the Bush administration
glad-handing suggest that the feeling is mutual.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the refashioning of this bilateral
relationship is not merely a matter of diplomatic process,"
he said at Rice's luncheon. "What we have embarked upon is,
therefore, not just for tomorrow, but I sincerely hope and
believe that it is for generations to come."
Still, the U.S.-India friendship clearly has its limits: As
expected, Singh failed to win Bush's support for India's bid
for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council
(search).
Bush told Singh the United States doesn't want to vote on
enlarging the Security Council until more sweeping changes
are made at the United Nations, which has been beset by
scandals, said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns.
Singh sought to play down the differences with Bush. "In our
talks, the president and I were of one mind that the
contemporary reality must be fully reflected in the central
organs and decision-making processes of the U.N.," he said.
He picked up one ally in Congress, however. Rep. Tom Lantos,
D-Calif., senior Democrat on the House International
Relations Committee, took the floor of the House "to press
again for strong U.S. support for India to become a permanent
member," which he said would be "long-overdue recognition by
the international community of India's rightful place as a
great democracy."
Bush and Singh announced they also had agreed on cooperation
in space and high-technology commerce.
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration yesterday reversed a
longstanding policy and pledged to provide India with
civilian nuclear energy technology, a clear sign of the
emerging alliance between the two nations after decades of
acrimony over India's Cold War legacy as a leader of the
Nonaligned Movement.
During the first official visit by an Indian leader in five
years, President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
hailed a new era of cooperation, promising to work together
to spread democracy, fight terrorism and the HIV virus, and
break down remaining barriers to trade, defense, and economic
ties between the two countries. ''India and the United States
share a commitment to freedom and a belief that democracy
provides the best path to a more hopeful future for all
people," Bush said after meeting with Singh in the Oval
Office. ''We also believe that the spread of liberty is the
best alternative to hatred and violence."
India got what it has wanted most in recent years from the
United States: promises of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel
to meet its ballooning energy needs. In return, India pledged
to ''assume the same responsibilities and practices" as other
countries with advanced nuclear technology, including
separating its civilian and weapons facilities and programs.
But arms control specialists raised concerns that the United
States risked sending the wrong message -- that it was
rewarding a nuclear-weapons power that has refused to join
treaties designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.
And they noted that such aid would require changing laws that
were designed to punish India for its refusal to disclose
details of its nuclear weapons program and sign the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty.
Bush administration officials maintain, however, that India
has been responsible with its nuclear technology, reducing
concerns of proliferation. Officials also added that the
United States needs to build its relationship with India,
which is seen, along with China, as one of the world's two
fastest-rising economic and military powers over the next 50
years.
According to a joint declaration issued after the meetings,
''President Bush conveyed his appreciation to the prime
minister over India's strong commitment to preventing
[weapons of mass destruction] proliferation and stated that
as a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology,
India should acquire the same benefits and advantages as
other states."
The statement added that Bush will work with Congress to lift
the necessary restrictions and will work ''with friends and
allies to adjust international regimes to enable full civil
nuclear energy cooperation and trade with India."
Singh, while not committing to signing any treaties, pledged
to adhere to many of the same rules as other nuclear powers,
including revealing its civilian nuclear facilities to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, maintaining its
moratorium on nuclear testing, and working with the United
States to end the production of fissile material, the
ingredients needed to make a bomb. But some specialists worry
that as a result of the agreement, other countries could
decide to relax their own rules and provide civilian nuclear
know-how that can potentially be used for hostile purposes to
countries of concern such as Iran, Pakistan, and Syria.
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