Rusutsu, Japan
09 July 2008
U.S. President George Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh arebacking a controversial deal to sell U.S. nuclear fuel to India. VOAWhite House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports from Japan where thetwo men met on the sidelines of a meeting of the Group of Eight leadingindustrial nations.
President Bush says the nuclear deal is goodfor both nations as they work together to confront challenges includingclimate change and security.
It allows India access to atomicfuel and U.S. civilian nuclear technology in exchange for India openingits facilities to inspection by the U.N.'s International Atomic EnergyAgency.
But the accord, first announced in 2006, has yet to passeither nation's legislature with American critics saying it will leadto a nuclear arms race in Asia and Indian opponents saying it will givethe United States too much influence over Indian nuclear activities.
India has tested nuclear weapons but has not signed the international nonproliferation treaty
India'scommunist parties Tuesday withdrew from the Singh government sayingthey will call for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister toprotest the deal.
Mr. Singh's government is expected to survivewith the support of a previously-unaligned party that now supports thenuclear accord.
Following their talks at the G8 summit on theJapanese island of Hokkaido, Prime Minister Singh said relations withthe United States have never been better and the two nations mustcontinue standing shoulder to shoulder. "We have made progress in allareas. We have progressed in nuclear cooperation, space cooperation,defense cooperation," he said.
President Bush said their meetingwas a typical conversation among friends talking about commonopportunities and world problems in a spirit of respect. "We talkedabout the India / U.S. nuclear deal and how important that is for ourrespective countries. We talked about the environment and how we canwork together to grow our economies and at the same time be responsiblestewards of the environment," Mr. Bush said.
President Bushblocked past G8 efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions because thoselimits did not apply to India and China. At this summit, those nationsjoined G8 countries in agreeing to the non-binding goal of halvinggreenhouse gas emission by 2050.
President Bush said he andPrime Minister Singh also discussed educational exchanges and the Doharound of world trade talks where he said the United States and Indiamust ensure that protectionist sentiments do not prevent theireconomies from further growth.